LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  O. 

CALIFORNIA 
SAN  DIE60  y' 


H-M 
I. 


WITHDRAWN 


From  Birkner,  "Der  Diluvialc  Hensch  in  Europa." 

The  Neanderthal  Man. 


An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of 

SOCIAL    EVOLUTION 

THE  PREHISTORIC  PERIOD 


BY 

F.  STUART  CHAPIN,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

~^^j 

OF    THE 

DEPARTMENT  OF  ECONOMICS  AND  SOCIOLOGY,  SMITH  COLLEGE,   NORTHAMPTON, 

MASSACHUSETTS,  AND  SOMETIME  UNIVERSITY  FELLOW    IN 

SOCIOLOGY,   COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


NEW  YORK 
THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1913 


-"  •    -  .-i  ^i 
CALIFORNIA 


LA  JOLCA.  CALIFORNIA 


Copyright,  1913,  by 
THE  CENTURV  Co. 


Published,  September,  1913 


TO 
MY  WIFE 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PREFACE xv 

INTRODUCTION xxi 

PART  I  ORGANIC  EVOLUTION 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

i    VARIATION  AND  HEREDITY 1-19 

Resemblance  of  parents  to  offspring  —  Resemblance  not 
exact  —  The  continuity  of  germ  plasm  —  Variation: 
fluctuating  and  stable  —  Mutation  —  Mendelian  inheri- 
tance —  The  theory  of  regression. 

ii    THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  EXISTENCE „       20-38 

The  struggle  for  life  —  The  rate  of  reproduction  —  The 
infantile  death-rate  —  Natural  selection  —  The  survival 
of  the  fit  —  The  origin  of  species  —  Summary  of  theory 
of  natural  selection  —  Sexual  selection  —  The  inheri- 
tance of  acquired  characteristics  —  Adaptation. 

in    THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN     .      .      .      .      .      „      .     39-101 

Origin  of  man  by  descent  from  a  lower  form  —  The  series 
of  ancestral  forms  — Human  species  and  the  ape  family 
—  Structural  evidence  of  relationship  —  Sexual  selection 
and  man  —  Remains  of  prehistoric  man  —  Geologic  time 
and  the  age  of  human  remains  —  The  ice  ages  —  The 
zone  of  origin  —  The  Neanderthal  skull  —  The  Pithe- 
canthropus Erectus  —  The  Heidelberg  jaw  —  The  Eoan- 
thropus  —  Prehistoric  caves  and  implements  —  The  Paleo- 
lithic period  —  The  Neolithic  period. 

PART  II  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 
iv     ASSOCIATION 102-120 

Origin  of  human  nature  in  social  life  —  The  precursor  of 
man  a  social  animal  —  Association  afforded  protection 
from  foes  —  Mutual  aid  and  cooperation  —  Association 
affects  selection  survival  —  Association  assures  food 
supply  and  numerous  offspring  —  Association  pre- 
serves useful  variation  —  The  social  process  cumulates 
gains  through  imitation  —  Association  transformed 
the  brute  mind  into  the  human  intellect  —  Stimulation 
and  response  —  Interstimulation  and  response  —  Differ- 
entiation and  resemblance  —  Social  life  reacted  on  bodily 
structure  —  Play  and  festivity  and  the  origin  of  speech  — 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTEE  PAGE 

Consciousness    of    kind  —  Language  —  Natural    selection 
and  group  survival  —  Importance  of  the  bond  of  union 

—  Society    restrains    the    individual  —  Group    coherence 
and  persecution  —  Morals  are  the  product  of  social  rela- 
tions. 

v    THE  INFLUENCES  OF  PHYSICAL  ENVIBONMENT 121-170 

Climate,  soil,  food,  and  topography  —  Man  is  dependent 
upon  natural  surroundings  —  Environment  affects  the 
form  of  the  human  body  —  Climate :  the  selective  in- 
fluence of  extremes  —  Climate  affects  achievement  —  Cli- 
mate and  altitude  —  The  theory  of  pulsatory  climatic 
change  —  Climatic  cycles  —  Climate  and  history  — 
Temporary  changes  in  climate  —  Climate  affects  the 
mode  of  life  —  Topography  and  migration  —  Topography 
and  civilization  —  Topography  and  isolation  —  The 
materialistic  interpretation  of  history  —  The  general 
aspects  of  nature  —  Physical  environment  and  religion. 

vi     SOCIAL  HEREDITY 171-202 

Differences  due  to  custom  —  The  importance  of  social 
atmosphere  —  The  individual  and  collective  experience  — 
How  habits  and  customs  originate  —  The  force  of  custom 

—  Cultural  differences  entirely  due  to  custom  —  The  folk- 
ways —  The     mores  —  Education     preserves     the     group 
mores  —  Perpetuation  of  custom  by  suggestion  and  imita- 
tion—  The  laws  of  communication  —  The  crowd  —  Condi- 
tions    of     suggestibility  —  The     laws     of     imitation  — 
Imitation    spreads    in   geometrical   progression  —  Contra 
imitation  —  Imitation    spreads    from    above    to   below  — 
Imitation  is  refracted  by  its  media  —  Custom  and  mode 
imitation  —  Imitation  a  conservative  force  —  Formalism. 

vn    RACES  AND  PEOPLES 203-232 

Race  differentiation  —  Definition  of  race  —  Factors  of  im- 
portance in  a  theory  of  race  —  The  variable  White  race 

—  Giddings'  theory  of  race  —  The  differentiation  of  the 
European  races — The  four  European  races  —  The  origin 
of   the    White    race    in    the    Baltic    region  —  Aboriginal 
American   peoples  —  The  achievements  of  the  European 
races  —  Achievements  due  to  historical  occurrences  rather 
than    aptitude  —  Importance    of    assimilation    and    the 
economic  factors. 

viu    TBIBAL    SOCIETY 233-277 

The  means  of  determining  the  characteristics  of  social  life 
of  prehistoric  man  —  Archeological  remains  —  The  bond 
of  kin  in  primitive  society  —  The  Iroquois  Indians  and 
their  confederacy  —  The  Iroquois  clan  —  Social  organ- 
ization of  the  Iroquois  tribes  —  The  Iroquois  phratry  — 
The  religious  concept  of  Manitou  —  Totemism  among 
primitive  peoples  —  Totemism  among  the  British  Colum- 
bian Indians  —  The  Winter  Ceremonial  of  the  Kwakiutl 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Indians  —  Totemism  among  the  native  tribes  of  Australia 
— 'The  magical  Intichiuma  ceremonies  —  Initiation  cere- 
monies —  Magic :  imitative  and  sympathetic  —  Indian^ 
medicine-men  —  Primitive  religion;  animism  —  Theories 
of  the  human  soul  —  The  religion  of  ancestor-worship  — 
The  economic  life  of  primitive  peoples  —  The  undeveloped 
sense  of  value ;  no  idea  of  exchange  —  Exchange  originat- 
ing in  gift -giving,  propitiation,  offering  —  The  origin  of  a 
generally  acceptable  medium  of  exchange:  money  —  No 
competition  in  primitive  society  —  Hindrances  in  super- 
stition to  the  growth  of  economic  ideas  —  The  role  of 
slavery. 

ix     THE  TRANSITION  FROM  TRIBAL  SOCIETY  TO  CIVIL  SOCIETY     .   278-296 

The  transition  gradual  and  due  to  many  causes  —  Metro- 
nymic and  Patronymic  organization  of  society  —  Marriage 
by  capture  and  marriage  by  purchase  —  The  patriarchal 
kindred  and  the  pastoral  system  —  The  patriarchal  kin- 
dred and  the  agricultural  system  —  Ancestor-worship  and 
the  patriarchal  kindred  —  Tribal  feudalism  —  The  five 
generation  group  of  the  patriarchal  kindred  —  The  new 
basis  of  social  organization  in  allegiance  —  The  change 
from  customary  to  positiYe  law  —  The  institution 
of  slavery  and  the  creation  of  a  surplus  —  The  growth  of 
markets  and  the  beginnings  of  commerce  —  The  dispos- 
able surplus  and  leisure  —  Civilization  results  from  the 
creation  of  a  surplus. 

INDEX  .  .  299-306 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  Neanderthal  Man Frontispiece 

PAGE 
Figure     1.     Distribution  of  Stature  of  American  Boys  10 J  years  old    .        8 

Figure     2.     Curve  of  Distribution 9 

Figure     3.     Diagram    illustrating    a    Mutation 11 

Figure     4.     Diagram   of  Mendelian  Inheritance   in    the   Pea     ...      12 

Figure     5.     Mendelian    Inheritance   in   Mice 14 

Figure     6.     Mendelian  Inheritance  in  Four-o'clocks 10 

Figure  7.  Diagram  of  Inheritance  of  Body  Cells  and  Germ  Cells  .  34 
Figure  8.  Hair-tracts  on  the  Arms  and  Hands  of  Man,  as  compared 

with  those  on  the  Arms  and  Hands  of  the  Chimpanzee     42 
Figure     9.     Front  and   back   view   of   adult   Human   Sacrum,   showing 

abnormal  persistence  of  Vestigial  Tail-muscles   ...      44 
Figure  10.     Rudimentary,    or   Vestigial    and    useless,   muscles    of   the 

Human  Ear 45 

Figure  11.     A  series  of  Embryos  at  Three  Comparable   and  Progres- 
sive Stages  of  Development,  representing  four  divisions 

of  the  class  Mammalia 47 

Figure  12.     Portrait  of  a  Young  Male  Child.     Photographed  from  life, 
when  the  mobile  feet  were  for  a  short  time  at  rest  in  a 

position  quite  apelike 49 

Figure  13.     An  infant,  three  weeks  old,  supporting  its  own  weight  for 
over    two   minutes.     The   attitude    of    the    lower    limbs, 
feet,  and  toes  is  strikingly  simian      ......      51 

Figure  14.     Diagram    illustrating    the    character    and    relative    age   of 
Human  remains  and  the  Quaternary  deposits   in  which 

they   have  been   found 53 

Figure  15.     Europe  during  the  Period  of  Maximum  Glaciation     .      .      54 
Figure  16.     An  Alaskan  Glacier  sweeping  down  the  Valley  and  gouging 
out   Rock    and    Stone.     A   similar   situation    existed    in 
many  parts  of  now  habitable  Europe  during  the  Glacial 

Period 50 

Figure  17.  Top  and  Side  view  of  Neanderthal  Cranium  ....  59 
Figure  18.  A  reconstruction  of  the  Neanderthal  Type  of  Skull  .  .  01 
Figure  19.  The  Cranium  of  the  Pithecanthropus  Erectus  with  Tooth 

and  Thigh  bone 02 

Figure  20.     The  Gorilla,  Neanderthal  Man  and  Modern  Man  compared     (53 

Figure  21.     Comparison  of  Crania C5 

Figure  22.     Sand-pit  at  Maure,  near  Heidelberg,  where  tlie  Prehistoric 

Jaw  was  found 00 

Figure  23.     Comparison  of  Jaw  of  Modern  Man  witli  Jaw  of  Heidelberg 

Man   and  Chimpanzee1 07 

Figure  24.     Eolithic    Implements 68 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Figure  25. 


The   Grotto   Chapelle-aux-Saints,   where   Remains   of   Pre- 
historic Men  were  found 


70 


Figure  26.     Diagram  of  Cro-Magnon  Grotto,  where  Remains  of  Prehis- 
toric Men  were  found 72 

Figure  27.     Stone  Implements  of  the  early  Paleolithic  Period,  Stre'pvan 

and  Chellean 73 

Figure  28.     Flint  Implements  of  the  Chellean  Epoch 74 

Figure  29.     Flint  Implements  of  the  Acheulian  Epoch 75 

Figure  30.     A  Man  of  the  Stone  Age 77 

Figure  31.     Flint  Implements  of  the  Mousterian  Epoch      .      .      .      .      T9 
Figure  32.     Flint  Implements  of  the  Aurignacian  Epoch      ....     80 

Figure  33.     Implements    of    the    Solutrean    Epoch 81 

Figure  34.     Stone  Implements  of  the  Magdalenian  Epoch     ....      83 
Figure  35.     Bone   Harpoons  and   Engravings  on   Bone  of  the  Magda- 
lenian  Epoch 85 

Figure  36.     Aboriginal  Man  of  the  Mousterian  Epoch 86 

Figure  37.     Map  showing  the  location  of  Prehistoric  Caves,  all  of  them 

ornamented    by    Paintings    and    Drawings      ....      87 
Figure  38.     Red  Drawing  of  a  Rhinoceros,  from  Font-de-Gaume     .      .      88 

Figure  39.     A  Charging   Boar !)0 

Figure  40.     A  Bison  at  bay 90 

Figure  41.     Diagram  of  Frescos  on  the  Ceiling  of  the  Cavern  of  Alta- 

mira 91 

Figure  42.     Neolithic  Implements 92-93 

Figure  43.     Neolithic   Pottery 94 

Figure  44.     Neolithic  Monuments  of  Stonehenge 95 

Figure  45.     Neolithic  Monuments,   a   "  Menir " 97 

Figure  46.     Neolithic  Monuments,  a  "  Dolmen  " 98 

Figure  47.     Neolithic  Monuments  in  the  New  World.     A  Cliff  Palace 

of  the  Cliff  Dwellers  of  Colorado 99 

Figure  48.     Silver  Amulet  against  the  Evil  Eye     .      .      .      .  •    .      .      .119 
Figure  49.     Winter  in  the  North.     A  Winter  Topeck  in  Siberia     .      .    127 
Figure  50.     Summer  in  the  North.     A  Summer  Topeck  in  Siberia     .    131 
Figure  51.     Environmental  Conditions  in  the  Far  North.     A  Mission- 
ary's Winter  Trip  in  Labrador 135 

Figure  52.     The   vertical   distribution   of   Climate   in   the    Mountains, 

showing  how  Land-masses  raise  the  Temperature     .      .138 
Figure  53.     Topography   and   Migration,   Roads   and    Trails    into   the 

Western  Territory 148 

Figure  54.     Natives   adapting   their    life   to   dangerous   conditions   of 
existence.     A  tree-dwelling  in  the  tiger  infested  jungles 

of  India 153 

Figure  55.     Awe-inspiring  Scenery  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado  155 
Figure  56.     Confidence-inspiring  Environment  of  Greece,  the  beautiful 

Vale   of  Tempe 158 

Figure  57.     Confidence-inspiring  Environment  of  Greece,  Mount  Ossa  159 
Figure  58.     Awe-inspiring  aspect  of  Nature  in  the  Alps.     Interlaken 

with  Jungfrau  in  the  distance 161 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Figure  59.     The   Great   Gopura,   Madura   Temple,  India      ....  163 

Figure  60.     The  Environment  of  the  Desert 168 

Figure  61.     A  Bedouin  Tent  in  the  Desert 170 

Figure  62.     Strange    Customs.     A    widow    following    the    custom    of 
wearing  her  husband's  skull  strung  from  her  back  as  a 

sign   of    mourning 175 

Figure  63.     Deformation  of  Features  by  Congo  Natives  in  submission 

to  approved  Styles 179 

Figure  64.     Diagram  illustrating  Facial  Angle,  Head  Form  and  Hair 

Form 204 

Figure  65.     Color  of  Skin  as  distributed  over  the  World     ....  206 

Figure  66.     Head  Form  as  distributed  over  the  World 207 

Figure  67.     Brachycephalic  Asiatic  Types:  Uzbeg,  Kiptchak  and  Kara- 

Kirghez 211 

Figure  68.     Dolichocephalic  African  Types;    Berber  and  Negro     .      .  215 

Figure  69.     Zone  of  Distribution  of  Original  Undifferentiated  Race     .  214 

Figure  70.     Head  form  as  distributed  over  Europe 219 

Figure  71.     The  Three  European  Racial  Types;  Baltic   (Teutonic),  Al- 
pine   and   Mediterranean 223 

Figure  72.     Area  of  Differentiation  of  the  White  Race  in  the  Baltic     .  225 

Figure  73.     The  Family  Tree  of  the  Hominidse 228 

Figure  74.     Pottery  made  by  the  Pima  Indians  of  Southern  Arizona     .  235 

Figure  75.     Baskets  made  by  the  Pima  Indians  of  Southern  Arizona   .  237 

Figure  76.     An    Indian    Tepee 242 

Figure  77.     Indian  Masks  from  the  Pacific  Coast 249 

Figure  78.     Totem   Poles 253 

Figure  79.     Ceremonial  Life  of  Primitive  Peoples,  Andaman  Islanders 

Dancing 259 


PREFACE 

The  object  of  this  book  is  to  present  in  elementary 
form  a  summary  of  the  most  generally  accepted  evidence 
and  theory  of  Social  Evolution.  It  does  not  pretend  to 
be  a  learned  treatise  advancing  some  new  or  startling 
doctrine.  The  writer  believes  that  there  is  a  definite 
place  to  be  filled  by  a  book  which,  as  a  text  for  the  study 
of  Sociology,  applies  the  best  of  sociological  and  evolu- 
tionary theory  to  the  historical  study  of  society.  With 
the  increasing  emphasis  that  historians  are  placing  upon 
social  and  economic  phenomena,  the  average  student 
learns  at  least  something  of  the  importance  of  social 
forces.  At  the  present  time  the  vast  period  of  human 
evolution  before  the  historical  period,  is  known  to  us 
only  by  the  material  presented  in  highly  specialized 
works.  There  is  no  single  elementary  presentation  of 
the  increasing  body  of  scientific  knowledge  which  enables 
us  to  picture  prehistoric  conditions.  The  author  believes 
that  the  study  of  history  and  social  science  is  made  more 
real  and  valuable  by  some  familiarity  with  the  conditions 
and  factors  which  were  important  in  this  early  period. 

Professor  W.  I.  Thomas  says :  "  It  is  of  course  entirely 
proper  for  the  student  to  limit  himself  very  narrowly  to 
a  special  field  in  order  to  work  it  intensively,  but  the  his- 
torian, for  instance,  who  begins  the  study  of  human 
activity  with  Greece  and  Rome  or  even  with  Assyria  and 
Egypt,  cuts  himself  off  completely  from  the  beginnings  of 
his  own  subject  as  would  the  psychologist  who  neglected 

XV 


xvi  PREFACE 

all  study  of  child-psychology  and  of  animal  mind,  or  the 
biologist  who  attempted  to  understand  bird  or  insect  life 
without  a  knowledge  of  the  stages  of  life  lying  below 
these.  Indeed,  when  we  consider  that  the  human  race 
is  one,  that  the  human  mind  is  everywhere  much  the 
same,  and  that  human  practices  are  everywhere  of  the 
same  general  pattern,  it  appears  that  the  neglect  of  the 
biologist  or  psychologist  to  study  types  of  life  lower  than 
those  in  which  he  is  immediately  interested  could  hardly 
be  so  serious  as  the  neglect  of  the  historian  to  familiarize 
himself  with  the  institutional  life  of  savage  society." 

Professor  J.  H.  Robinson  has  recognized  this  necessity 
and  says :  "  'Prehistoric'  is  a  word  that  must  go  the  way 
of  'preadamite,'  which  we  used  to  hear.  They  both  in- 
dicate a  suspicion  that  we  are  in  some  way  gaining  illicit 
information  about  what  happened  before  the  footlights 
were  turned  on  and  the  curtain  rose  on  the  great  human 
drama.  Of  the  so-called '  prehistoric '  period  we  of  course 
know  as  yet  very  little  indeed,  but  the  bare  fact  that 
there  was  such  a  period  constitutes  in  itself  the  most 
momentous  of  historical  discoveries.  The  earliest,  some- 
what abundant,  traces  of  mankind  can  hardly  be  placed 
earlier  than  six  thousand  years  ago.  They  indicate,  how- 
ever, a  very  elaborate  and  advanced  civilization,  and  it  is 
quite  gratuitous  to  assume  that  they  represent  the  first 
occasions  on  which  man  rose  to  such  a  stage  of  culture. 
Even  if  they  do,  the  wonderful  tales  of  how  these  condi- 
tions of  which  we  find  hints  in  Babylonia,  Egypt,  and 
Crete  came  about  are  lost.  .  .  , 

"From  this  point  of  view  the  historian's  gaze,  instead 
of  sweeping  back  into  remote  ages  when  the  earth  was 
young,  seems  now  to  be  confined  to  his  own  epoch. 
Rameses  the  Great,  Tiglath-Pileser,  and  Solomon  appear 


PREFACE  xvii 

practically  coeval  with  Caesar,  Constantine,  Charlemagne, 
St.  Louis,  Charles  V,  and  Victoria;  Bacon,  Newton,  and 
Darwin  are  but  the  younger  contemporaries  of  Thales, 
Plato,  and  Aristotle." 

Perhaps  this  short  survey  of  a  great  subject  will  seem 
ambitious  to  many.  But  evolution  means  the  slow  un- 
folding of  hidden  potentialities.  We  must  study  pre- 
historic man  as  well  as  ancient  man  because  the  changes 
wrought  in  social  evolution  are  so  gradual  that  it  is  only 
by  examining  the  long  period  that  we  can  become  con- 
scious of  their  real  significance.  The  change  that  is  ob- 
servable at  the  end  of  a  long  period  is  indistinguishable 
in  the  briefer  interval.  This  is  the  author's  justification 
for  attempting  to  present  as  an  organic  whole  a  subject 
the  divisions  of  which  specialists  often  find  quite  baffling. 
In  the  effort  to  classify  and  generalize  a  great  body  of 
knowledge,  the  "clumsy  forceps  of  our  minds"  always 
crush  the  truth  a  little  and  mar  it.  Yet  there  is  a  genuine 
gain  from  the  very  effort  to  attain  perspective,  although 
violence  may  be  done  to  the  strict  accuracy  of  certain 
details.  The  artist  suppresses  many  things  in  order  to 
strengthen  the  general  impression  that  the  picture  is  to 
make.  Thus,  perhaps,  the  scientist  can  learn  from  his 
fellow  seeker  after  truth. 

The  author  does  not  regard  the  book  as  final  in  any 
sense  and  would  welcome  the  criticism  of  errors  or  sug- 
gestions by  which  the  work  may  be  improved. 

The  illustrations  have  been  carefully  selected  and  ar- 
ranged with  a  view  to  illuminate  certain  points  made  in 
the  text  which  the  average  student  would  otherwise  be 
unable  to  visualize.  The  author  would  have  considerable 
emphasis  placed  upon  this  use  of  the  illustrations  since 
each  has  been  chosen  for  a  definite  purpose. 


xviii  PREFACE 

The  selected  bibliographies  which  are  appended  after 
each  chapter  constitute  the  best  works  on  specific  points 
discussed  in  the  course  of  the  chapter. 

The- author's  indebtedness  to  Professor  Franklin  H. 
Giddings  for  encouragement  and  stimulating  suggestions 
is  greater  than  can  be  expressed  in  a  formal  preface. 
But  the  author  wishes  to  express  his  appreciative  thanks 
to  Dr.  Giddings  for  permission  to  use  unpublished 
material,  for  reading  the  manuscript,  and  for  making 
many  criticisms  and  suggestions  which  have  been  of 
greatest  service. 

The  author's  thanks  are  also  due  Professor  Leonard 
S.  Blakey  and  Mr.  B.  J.  Baldwin  for  reading  parts  of  the 
manuscript  and  for  suggesting  the  revision  of  certain 
details.  Acknowledgments  and  thanks  are  due  the  fol- 
lowing authors  for  the  courteous  permission  accorded  to 
copy  and  reproduce  certain  diagrams,  maps  and  illustra- 
tions from  their  works :  Professor  F.  Birkner,  Der  Dilu- 
viale  Mensch  in  Europa;  Professor  Katharine  Coman, 
The  Industrial  History  of  the  United  States;  Professor 
Joseph  Dechelette,  Manuel  D'Archeologie  Prehistorique; 
Dr.  Robert  Forrer,  Urgeschichte  des  Europders;  Pro- 
fessor James  Geikie,  The  Great  Ice  Age;  Professor  M.  M. 
Metcalf,  Organic  Evolution;  Professor  William  Z.  Ripley, 
The  Races  of  Europe;  and  Professor  E.  L.  Thorndike, 
Individuality.  For  extending  the  same  courtesy  the  au- 
thor wishes  to  thank  the  editors  of  L'Anthropologie,  The 
Open  Court  Publishing  Company,  and  the  editor  Auguste 
Picard. 

To  the  Century  Company  the  author's  thanks  are  due 
for  courtesy  in  furnishing  many  excellent  illustrations 
from  the  Century  Magazine  and  other  of  their  publica- 
tions, and  for  cooperating  with  the  author  to  secure  the 


PREFACE  xix 

satisfactory  arrangement  of  certain  details  in  this  book. 

In  reading  the  proof  the  author  was  aided  by  his  wife 
and  Miss  Charlotte  B.  Peck,  and  desires  to  express  his  ap- 
preciation for  this  valuable  service.  The  author  wishes 
to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to  his  wife  for  encour- 
agement and  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  the  book. 

F.  STUAKT  CHAPIN. 

Northampton,  July,  19.13. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  story  of  Social  Evolution  tells  how  one  form  of 
life  came  to  dominate  so  completely  the  lives  and  destinies 
of  all  other  forms,  that  for  ages  the  creature  man  be- 
lieved himself  to  be  a  separate  and  distinct  creation, 
master  of  his  fate.  It  is  a  wonderful  story,  surpassing 
in  romance  and  fascination  any  epic  or  drama  ever  writ- 
ten. In  the  dark  ages  before  recorded  history,  great 
forc'es  were  active,  silently  and  insensibly  working,  mold- 
ing the  destinies  of  the  future  forms  of  life.  In  the  pro- 
cess of  this  evolution  an  occasional  gleam  of  conscious- 
ness began  to  dawn.  Sensibilities  became  more  refined; 
sympathy  and  compassion,  the  products  of  complex  rela- 
tions, tempered  and  modified  the  earlier,  cruder,  adjust- 
ments; cruelty  and  oppression  became  less  and  less  the 
guiding  forces  which  governed  the  relations  of  conscious 
beings;  tolerance  and  sympathy  became  more  and  more 
the  directing  principles  of  life. 

In  order  to  understand  the  important  and  determining 
factors  in  this  process  we  must  examine  both  the  physical 
and  the  spiritual  basis  of  man's  supremacy.  There  are 
certain  great  principles  which  guide  the  growth  and  de- 
velopment of  life.  We  must  study  the  relation  of  these 
principles  to  man.  In  the  chapters  of  Part  I  we 
shall  examine  the  explanations  that  have  been  brought 
forward  by  naturalists  for  the  origin  of  man's  physical 
being.  In  the  chapters  of  the  remaining  parts  of  the  book 

we  shall  examine  the  factors  and  the  influences  which  have 

xxi 


xxii  INTRODUCTION 

caused  the  growth  and  development  of  man's  spiritual, 
mental,  and  moral  nature. 

Human  nature  is  to-day  essentially  the  same  as  it  was 
thousands  of  years  ago.  The  great  achievements  of  mod- 
ern man  are  intellectual  and  dependent  upon  accumulated 
stores  of  information  and  knowledge.  They  are  not 
moral  attainments.  The  thin  veneer  of  civilization  is  the 
charitable  cloak  which  covers  much  brutality,  deceit,  and 
egotism,  and  no  little  hypocrisy,  which  often  serves  pleas- 
antly to  beguile  the  dead  monotony  of  dissimulation. 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


VAEIATION  AND  HEREDITY 

WE  know  that  among  both  animals  and  plants  the  off- 
spring tend  to  resemble  their  parents.  The  young  of  a 
dog  is  always  a  dog  and  never  a  cat.  Rabbits  do  not  give 
birth  to  guinea  pigs.  Roses  will  not  grow  from  potato 
seeds.  Each  kind  of  animal  and  plant  breeds  true  as  the 
biologist  says.  But  this  principle  has  not  always  been 
recognized.  The  Greeks  believed  that  certain  animals 
originated  from  plants.  In  the  Middle  Ages  it  was  be- 
lieved that  the  goose-barnacle  (a  kind  of  crustacean) 
transforms  into  a  barnacle-goose.  But  we  have  accumu- 
lated sufficient  experience  of  nature  in  the  centuries  that 
have  passed  since  Medieval  times  to  affirm  with  confi- 
dence that  animals  and  plants  do  breed  true. 

It  is  a  fact  perfectly  familiar  to  breeders  that  the 
young  usually  resemble  the  particular  individuals  from 
which  they  have  sprung.  Therefore  we  can  say  that  not 
only  do  plants  and  animals,  when  they  reproduce,  give 
rise  to  young  which  belong  to  the  same  species  as  their 
parents,  but  further  than  this  they  tend  to  resemble 
their  parents  in  individual  peculiarities.  Thus,  among 
domestic  cattle,  the  offspring  resemble  the  parents  in  such 
qualities  as  size,  form,  color,  amount  and  quality  of  milk, 
as  well  as  many  other  qualities.1 

iMetcalf,  M.  M. — Organic  Evolution,  3rd  ed.,  1911,  p.  6. 
3 


4  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

Although  the  offspring  tends  to  resemble  the  parent, 
it  is  evident  that  the  resemblance  is  not  an  exact  one. 
The  resemblance  between  the  different  members  of  the 
family  is  such  that  brothers  and  sisters  are  quite  dis- 
tinguishable. Each  has  his  or  her  own  individual  pecul- 
iarities. No  two  are  exactly  alike.  These  facts  of  in- 
dividual difference  we  group  under  one  term.  We  call 
this  phenomenon  variation.  We  can  now  change  our 
statement  and  say:  under  the  influence  of  heredity  the 
young  tend  to  resemble  their  parents,  but  this  resem- 
blance is  never  exact.  It  is  more  or  less  imperfect. 

If  one  doubts  this  fact  of  variation  let  him  take  a 
thousand  individuals  of  any  species  with  regard  to  any 
single  character  and  he  will  be  convinced.  If  one  meas- 
ure the  lengths  of  a  thousand  oak  leaves  taken  from  the 
same  tree,  he  will  find  that  some  are  considerably  longer 
than  others,  but  that  within  certain  limits  most  of  the 
leaves  have  approximately  the  same  length.  So  it  is 
with  any  character  of  any  animal  or  plant, — there  is 
much  variation.  The  winter  birds  of  east  Florida  show 
a  variation  in  size  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent, 
among  specimens  of  the  same  species  and  sex  when  taken 
in  the  same  locality.2 

The  relation  then,  between  parents  and  offspring,  is 
such  that  like  tends  to  beget  like,  while  at  the  same  time 
opportunity  is  afforded  for  the  individual  new  depar- 
tures which  we  have  called  variations.  But  how  does  it 
happen  that  like  tends  to  beget  like?  Why  is  it  that  the 
young  of  a  horse  will  always  be  a  horse  and  not  a  zebra  ? 
How  is  it  that  nature  keeps  things  in  order?  For  some 
time  it  has  been  known  by  biologists  that  when  the  par- 
ents '  body  is  developing  from  the  fertilized  ovum,  a  resi- 

2/6tU,  p.  9. 


VARIATION  AND  HEREDITY  5 

due  of  unaltered  germinal  material  is  kept  apart  to  form 
the  reproductive  cells,  one  of  which  may  become  the 
starting  point  of  a  child.  On  this  point  Galton  has  writ- 
ten, "The  total  heritage  of  each  man  must  include  a 
greater  variety  of  material  than  was  utilized  in  forming 
his  personal  structure.  The  existence  in  some  form  of 
an  unused  portion  is  proven  by  his  power  ...  of  trans- 
mitting ancestral  characters  that  he  did  not  personally 
exhibit.  Therefore  the  organized  structure  of  each  in- 
dividual should  be  viewed  as  the  fulfilment  of  only  one 
out  of  an  indefinite  number  of  mutually  exclusive  possi- 
bilities. His  structure  is  the  coherent  and  more  or  less 
stable  development  of  what  is  no  more  than  an  imperfect 
sample  of  a  large  variety  of  elements."  3  The  idea  was 
more  independently  expressed  and  more  fully  developed 
by  Weismann  in  1893.4  It  is  now  the  basis  of  our  expla- 
nation of  why  like  tends  to  beget  like.  It  is  the  theory  of 
the  continuity  of  germinal  plasm.  Weismann  says,  "In 
development  a  part  of  the  germ-plasm  (i.  e.,  the  essential 
germ  material)  contained  in  the  parent  egg-cell  is  not 
used  up  in  the  construction  of  the  body  of  the  offspring, 
but  is  reserved  unchanged  for  the  formation  of  the  germ- 
cells  of  the  following  generation."  Thus  it  has  been 
said  that  the  parent  is  rather  the  trustee  of  the  germ- 
plasm  than  the  producer  of  the  child.  The  philosopher 
Bergson  has  said,  "Life  is  like  a  current  passing  from 
germ  to  germ  through  the  medium  of  a  developed  or- 
ganism. .  .  .  The  essential  thing  is  the  continuous  prog- 
ress indefinitely  pursued,  an  invisible  progress,  on  which 
each  visible  organism  rides  during  the  short  interval  of 
time  given  it  to  live."  The  reason  why  like  tends  to 

s  Galton,  F. — Natural  Inheritance,  1889,  p.  18. 

*  Thomson,  J.  A.,  &  Geddes,  P.— Evolution,  1911,  p.  114. 


6  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

beget  like  should  now  be  clear.  It  is  the  continuity  of 
the  germ-plasm. 

When  one  compares  a  number  of  members  of  the  same 
species,  whether  men,  hens,  dogs,  pansies,  eels  or  ele- 
phants, he  finds  that  they  differ  from  one  another.  It 
is  possible  to  measure  these  differences.  These  "ob- 
served differences"  may  be  due  to  many  things.  Many 
of  them  may  be  involved  with  sex,  and  thus  accounted 
for;  some,  with  age;  others  may  be  due  to  the  influence 
of  surroundings  in  early  plastic  years,  for  example,  the 
twisted  twig  and  the  bent  limb.  These  last  are  changes  in 
the  bodies  of  plants  and  animals  which  are  acquired ;  they 
are  modifications,  not  inborn.  When  from  the  total  ob- 
served differences,  these  peculiarities  of  sex,  age,  and 
modification  are  subtracted,  a  very  interesting  remain- 
der is  left,  which  we  define  as  inborn  or  germinal  varia- 
tions.5 These  variations  are  congenital,  not  made. 
They  are  often  distinct  at  birth.  They  are  in  many 
cases,  if  not  always,  transmissible.  They  form  what  has 
been  called  the  raw  material  of  evolution. 

In  late  years  a  quantity  of  facts  bearing  upon  varia- 
tions has  been  gathered.  The  study  and  organization 
of  this  material  has  shown  that  there  are  probably  two 
quite  distinct  types  of  variation :  first,  fluctuating  or  con- 
tinuous variation,  producing  comparatively  slight  diver- 
gence from  the  parental  character;  and  second,  stable 
or  discontinuous  variation,  producing  generally  great 
divergence  from  the  parental  type.6 

Fluctuating  or  continuous  variation  may  be  illustrated 
as  follows:  from  the  registration  of  variations  that 
occur  in  the  height  of  a  large  number  of  men  taken  at 
random,  it  was  found  that  there  was  a  proportion  be- 

o  Thomson  &  Geddes,  op.  cit.,  pp.  115-116.  «  Metcalf,  op.  cit.,  p.  10. 


VARIATION  AND  HEREDITY  7 

tween  the  frequency  of  a  particular  variation  and  the 
amount  of  its  deviation  from  the  mean  stature  of  the 
group.  Among  the  measurements  of  2,600  men,  taken  at 
ramdom  (that  is,  as  they  come  and  without  any  conscious 
effort  to  select  only  the  tall  or  the  short),  there  are  1  of 
4  ft.  8  in. ;  and  1  of  6  ft.  8  in. ;  12  of  5  ft. ;  and  about  12  of 
6  ft.  4  in. ;  that  is,  equal  numbers  at  equal  distances  from 
the  mean  of  5  ft.  8  in.  This  illustrates  that  when  the 
frequency  and  the  magnitude  of  the  variations  are 
registered,  they  show  what  is  called  the  normal  curve  of 
frequency.  This  can  be  illustrated  more  clearly  by  ref- 
erence to  the  following  table  of  the  heights  in  centimeters 
of  1,000  ten  and  one-half  year  old  American  school  boys.7 

Between  109  and  113  centimeters  tall, 2  boys. 

113  "  117  "  "  5  " 

117  "  121  "  "  25  " 

121  "  125  "  "  97  " 

125  "  129  "  "  199  " 

129  "  133  "  "  .....255  " 

133  "  137  "  "  228  " 

137  "  141  "  "  126  " 

141  "  145  "  "  49  " 

145  "  149  "  "  11  " 

149  "  153  "  "  4  " 

When  this  material  is  plotted  in  graphical  form  the 
distribution  of  stature  is  as  represented  in  figure  1, 
letting  the  distance  of  each  horizontal  line  from  the 
base  stand  for  the  number  of  boys.  Now  if  we  were 
to  draw  a  smooth  curve  through  the  tops  of  the  columns 
we  should  have  a  bell  shaped  curve  of  the  type  shown  in 
figure  2.  This  illustrates  graphically  what  we  meant 

7  Thorndike,  E.  L. — Individuality,  p.  8. 


8  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

by  the  statement  that  there  is  a  relation  between  the 
frequency  of  a  particular  variation  and  the  amount  of  its 
deviation  from  the  mean  stature  of  the  group. 

The  task  of  registering  the  variations  that  occur  in 
any  group  of  creatures  may  at  first  sight  seem  tedious 
and  far  removed  from  the  warm  pulsations  of  life,  but 


CM.      109        113          117  m          125         129         133         137          141          145         149         ISA 

From  Thorndike,   "Individuality." 

FIGURE  1.     Distribution  of  Stature  of  American  Boys  10J  years  old. 

a  little  experience  in  the  measurement  of  such  things  as 
length  of  rose  petals,  the  length  of  bird  wings,  or  of  star- 
fish arms,  will  convince  the  student  that  biometrics  may 
lead  him  into  the  very  heart  of  the  matter.  If  the  regis- 
tration of  the  dimensions  of  a  particular  character  be 
carried  on  year  after  year  in  similar  material,  and  show 
a  consistent  increase  in  asymmetry  or  skewness  of  the 
curve  (asymmetry  or  skewness  means  a  curve  in  which 
the  hump  as  in  the  figure,  is  not  over  the  middle,  but 
nearer  one  end,  making  the  slope  at  that  end  more  abrupt 
and  at  the  other  end  more  gradual)  this  must  mean  that 
the  species  is  moving  in  a  definite  direction  as  regards 
the  particular  character  measured.  Similarly,  the  per- 
sistent occurrence  of  a  well-substantiated  double-humped 


VARIATION  AND  HEREDITY  9 

curve — not  the  result  of  modificational  effects — may  viv- 
idly bring  home  the  fact  that  the  species  is  dividing  into 
two  sub-species.  Thus,  by  means  of  statistics,  which 
seems  the  dryest  of  all  methods,  we  are  able  to  see  a 
species  being  born  under  our  very  eyes.8 

The  point  we  have  just  made  shows  how  a  species 
might  originate  by  the  accumulation  of  extremely  slight 


FIGUBE  2.     Curve  of  Distribution. 

variations.  But  evidence  is  at  hand  to  show  that  or- 
ganic structure  may  pass  with  seeming  abruptness  from 
one  position  of  equilibrium  to  another.  Changes  of  con- 
siderable amount  sometimes  occur  at  a  single  leap. 
These  sudden  jumps  or  changes  are  called  "discontinu- 
ous variations,"  or  sometimes,  "sports,"  and,  in  certain 
cases,  "mutations."  Professor  Hugo  de  Vries  has  made 
some  very  interesting  and  important  experiments  and 
observations  on  the  origin  of  species  in  the  plant  king- 
dom. He  found  that  species  often  arise  from  one  an- 
other by  discontinuous  leaps  and  bounds  as  opposed  to 
the  continuous  process.  He  therefore  believes  that 

s  Thomson  &  Geddes,  op.  cit.,  pp.  121-122. 


10  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

species  (forms  of  life  having  a  certain  similarity  and  re- 
lated by  descent)  appear  "all  at  once"  by  mutations. 

In  support  of  this  theory,  Professor  De  Vries  takes  the 
case  of  a  certain  evening  primrose  which  has  shown  sud- 
den and  repeated  leaps  with  a  remarkable  subsequent 
constancy.  The  Chelidonium  ma  jus  laciniatum  ap- 
peared suddenly  in  the  year  1590  in  the  garden  of  an 
apothecary  at  Heidelberg,  and  has  remained  constant 
ever  since.  These  experiments  and  observations  have 
lead  to  another  theory  of  descent.  It  is  now  held  by  a 
school  of  biologists  represented  by  De  Vries,  that  species 
have  arisen  by  this  discontinuous  process,  in  which  each 
new  unit,  forming  a  fresh  step  in  the  process,  sharply 
and  completely  separates  the  new  form  as  an  independ- 
ent species  from  that  from  which  it  sprang.  The  new 
species  originates  from  the  parent  species  without  any 
visible  series  of  transitional  forms.  It  can  perhaps  be 
made  more  clear  by  figure  3.  The  figure  represents 
by  A  B  the  direct  line  of  descent  from  which  the  parent 
B  has  sprung.  Now  with  the  usual  fluctuating  or 
continuous  variation,  the  offspring  of  B  would  not  be 
likely  to  have  the  same  average  (of  any  trait)  as  their 
own  parents,  but  an  average  much  nearer  the  average 
of  the  whole  group  to  which  the  parents  belonged.  But 
in  the  case  of  the  "sport,"  whose  origin  we  are  explain- 
ing, the  offspring  C  of  B  will  start  a  new  and  independent 
line  of  descent.  That  is,  the  offspring  D  of  C,  will  not 
have  an  average  nearer  that  of  B  than  C  was,  but  will 
have  an  average  nearer  that  of  their  parents  C.  Thus 
the  "sport"  C,  has  established  a  new  group  type  round 
which  there  will  be  fluctuating  or  continuous  variation. 

Galton  has  illustrated  the  process  by  analogy  but 
from  another  point  of  view.  The  polyhedron  can  be 


VARIATION  AND  HEREDITY 


11 


compared  with  an  organism.  They  "have  this  cardinal 
fact  in  common,  that  if  either  is  disturbed  without  trans- 
gressing the  range  of  its  stability, 
it  will  tend  to  re-establish  itself, ' ' 9 
that  is,  if  tipped  to  the  right  or  left 
it  will  fall  back  upon  the  original 
side,  but  if  the  range  is  passed,  it 
will  topple  over  into  a  new  position 
of  stability.  This  illustrates  a  mu- 
tation. There  is  now  a  new  posi- 
tion of  stability  or  average  condi- 
tion about  which  there  will  be 
fluctuation. 

In  the  present  state  of  our  knowl- 
edge of  variations  we  are  unable  to 
say  dogmatically  whether  species  B 
have  arisen  by  the  slow  accumu- 
lated adjustments  of  fluctuating 
variation  or  by  the  more  rapid 
process  of  mutation.  In  support  of 
the  first  theory  there  are  numerous 
cases  where  species  are  connected 
by  intermediate  grades.  There  is 
much  experimental  evidence  to  sup- 
port the  second  theory. 

In  1900,  when  De  Vries  in  Hol- 
land, Correns  in  Germany,  and 
Tschermak  in  Austria  independ-  FIGURE  3 
ently,  and  almost  simultaneously, 
reached  results  from  the  experimental  study  of  heredity 
which  have  modified  our  views  of  the  origin  of  species, 
the  whole  subject  of  heredity  took  on  added  interest. 

»  Galton,  op.  cit.,  p.  28. 


Diagram   illus- 
trating a  Mutation. 


12 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


This  increased  experimentation  and  interest  led  to  the 
discovery  of  a  buried  paper  written  in  18G5  by  Gregor 
Mendel,  an  Austro-Silesian  abbot.  It  proved  to  be  a  dis- 
closure of  great  importance.  Mendel  had  experimented 
in  his  garden  upon  the  common  edible  pea.  The  law  of 

Parental  generation  giant  D  variety  dwarf  R  variety 


First  filial  (hybrid) 
generation  F, 


all  offspring  D(R)  self-fertilized 
are  giants  they  yield 


Second  filial                       I 
(inbred)  F,                25%  g 
generation          (pure  dor 

i 
ants 
ninants) 

D(l 

50%  g 
(impure 

I) 
iants 
dominants) 

I 

25%  dw 
(pure  rece 

arfs 
ssive 

D  D  D(R)  R  R 

giants    25%  giants    50  %  giants  (impure)    25%  dwarfs    dwarfs 
(pure)       (pure)  (pure)         (pure) 

FIGURE  4.  Diagram  of  Mendelian  Inheritance  in  the  Pea,  where  D  stands 
for  the  Dominant  Character,  D(R)  for  the  Impure  Dominant,  and  R 
for  the  Recessive  Character. 

heredity  which  he  discovered  was  ridiculed  at  the  time 
of  the  writing  of  his  paper  and  the  discovery  was  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  lost  to  science  until  about 
1900. 

The  remarkable  results  of  Mendel's  experiments  upon 
the  common  pea  were  as  follows.  He  found  that  when 
he  crossed  a  giant  variety  of  6  to  7  feet  with  a  dwarf 
variety,  %  to  l1/^  feet  high,  the  offspring  were  all  tall. 
The  character  of  tallness  which  appeared  in  the  hybrid 
generation  (Fj),  to  the  exclusion  of  dwarfness,  was  called 
by  Mendel  the  "dominant"  character,  the  other  was 


VARIATION  AND  HEREDITY  13 

called  the  " recessive"  character.  But  this  was  not  all, 
when  the  tall  cross-bred  peas  were  left  to  self-fertilize, 
which  corresponds  to  close  inbreeding  in  animals,  among 
their  progeny  there  were  giants  and  dwarfs  in  the  aver- 
age proportions  of  3  to  1. 

When  the  dwarfs  of  this  F2  generation  were  allowed 
to  self -fertilize,  their  offspring  (F3)  were  all  dwarfs,  and 
further  generations  bred  from  them  were  also  all  dwarfs. 
They  are  called  pure  recessives,  being  "pure"  as  regards 
dwarfness. 

But  when  the  giants  of  the  F2  generation  were  left  to 
self -fertilize,  their  offspring  (F3)  were  of  two  kinds: 
one-third  of  them  (pure  dominants)  produced  giants 
only;  two-thirds  of  them  (impure  dominants)  produced 
giants  in  the  proportion  of  3  to  1.  Thus  the  F2  genera- 
tion, resulting  from  the  self-fertilization  of  the  cross-bred 
forms  or  hybrids  (Fx),  consisted  of  25  per  cent,  pure 
dominants,  50  per  cent,  impure  dominants,  and  25  per 
cent,  pure  recessives.10 

The  law  will  be  made  clear  by  examining  Figures  4, 
5  and  6  in  which  the  inheritance  of  the  waltzing  trait  is 
shown  for  mice,  and  the  inheritance  of  colors  is  shown 
for  red  and  white  four-o 'clocks. 

Figure  5  shows  how  the  waltzing  character  is  recessive 
and  absence  of  this  character  is  dominant.  In  the  first 
generation  a  normal  mouse  (represented  in  black)  is 
crossed  with  a  waltzing  mouse  (represented  in  white). 
The  result  is  all  normal  mice  in  the  first  filial  (hybrid) 
generation.  When  two  mice  of  this  generation  are 
crossed,  they  yield  waltzing  mice  in  the  proportion  of 
one  waltzing  to  three  normal  mice.  When  the  waltzing 
mice  of  this  generation  are  mated  they  yield  waltzing 

10  Thomson  &  Geddes,  op.  cit.,  p.  129. 


14  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

mice  alone.  This  is  because  they  are  pure  recessives. 
But  some  of  the  normal  mice  produce  only  normal  mice, 
these  are  pure  dominants,  while  others  of  the  normal 
mice  produce  normal  and  waltzing  mice  in  the  proportion 
of  three  normal  to  one  waltzing  mice,  these  are  impure 


NORMAL  MOUSE  WALTZING   MOUSE 


FIGURE  5.     Mendelian  Inheritance  in  Mice. 


dominants.  This  law  does  not  mean  that  if  there  were 
only  four  offspring  of  a  mouse  in  the  first  filial  generation 
Fj,  one  would  be  normal  and  would  breed  only  normal, 
two  would  be  normal  but  would  breed  both  normal  and 
waltzing  mice,  and  one  would  be  waltzing  and  would 
breed  only  waltzing  mice.  It  might  of  course  happen 
this  way.  What  it  means  is  that  on  the  average,  if  one 
were  to  study  a  great  number  of  matings  of  normal  and 
waltzing  mice,  the  offspring  would  possess  the  waltzing 
trait  in  the  proportion  indicated.  It  does  not  enable  one 
to  make  a  dogmatic  prediction  about  a  small  group  of 
brother  and  sister  mice. 

Figure  6  shows  the  inheritance  of  color  in  which  one 


VARIATION  AND  HEREDITY  15 

color  (red)  does  not  completely  dominate  the  other.  In 
this  case  the  impure  dominants  show  a  color  (pink)  which 
is  a  blend  of  the  colors  of  the  parental  generation. 

This  remarkable  mode  of  inheritance  has  been  dem- 
onstrated to  hold  for  a  great  diversity  of  organisms: 
in  mice,  rats,  rabbits,  guinea  pigs,  cattle,  poultry, 
canaries,  snails,  silk-moths;  in  beans,  maize,  wheat,  bar- 
ley, and  stocks.  In  cattle,  for  example,  hornlessness  is 
the  dominant  and  presence  of  horns  the  recessive  char- 
acter. In  wheat,  rough  and  red  chaff  are  the  dominant 
and  smooth  and  white  chaff  the  recessive  characters.11 

Mendelian  inheritance  as  applied  to  human  characters 
has  not  yet  been  worked  out,  if  indeed  inheritance  of 
human  characters  can  be  established  at  all  in  accordance 
with  this  law.  Dr.  C.  B.  Davenport  has  found  that  when 
both  parents  have  pure  blue  eyes  all  of  the  children  have 
pure  blue  eyes;  when  one  parent  has  pigmented  iris 
while  the  other  has  blue,  either  all  the  children  will  show 
no  blue  eyes  or  else  half  of  them  will  be  blue-eyed ;  when 
both  parents  have  brown  iris  either  all  the  children  will 
have  brown  iris  or  else  about  a  quarter  will  be  blue- 
eyed.12  Professor  Boas  found  that  among  Indian  half- 
bloods  an  extensive  series  of  measurements  of  width  of 
face  showed  a  decided  tendency  in  the  children  to  resem- 
ble either  the  Indian  race  or  the  White  race.  The  fea- 
ture of  Mendelian  inheritance  which  brings  about  the 
occurrence  of  mixed  characters  in  the  first  hybrid  gener- 
ation was  not  found,  but  instead  of  this  a  decided  ten- 
dency of  reversion  to  either  type  and  a  comparative  rarity 
of  intermediate  forms.13 

11  Thomson  &  Gcddes,  op.  cit.,  p.  132. 

12  Davenport,  C.  B. — Heredity  in  Relation  to  Eugenics,  p.  31, 
J3  Boas,  F, — The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man,  1911,  p.  78. 


16 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


Mendel's  theory  like  Weismann's  has  the  idea  of  ger- 
minal continuity  for  one  of  its  foundations.  It  conceives 
of  the  hereditary  relation  as  one  between  the  parental 
and  filial  germ  cells  and  not  between  the  bodies  of  parent 


RED 


WHITE 


FIGURE  6.     Mendelian  Inheritance  in  Four-o'clocks. 

and  offspring.  Mendelism  explains  the  organism  as 
built  up  of  a  number  of  definite  and  separably  inheritable 
characters.  Variation  seems  to  consist  in  the  presence 
or  omission  of  elementary  factors.  Thus,  the  white  sweet 
pea  was  brought  about  in  the  variation  by  which  one  of 
the  color  factors  was  dropped  out.  Variation  is  not 
always  the  progression  from  a  lower  degree  of  com- 


VARIATION  AND  HEREDITY  17 

plexity  to  a  higher,  but  the  reverse  may  be  true.14  Thus 
experimental  breeding  has  shown  that  the  white  coat  of 
the  horse  is  not  a  simple  character,  but  is  due  to  several 
independently  inheritable  factors.15 

Besides  the  Mendelian  theory  of  inheritance  there  is 
one  other  theory:  Francis  Galton's  theory  of  Regression. 
The  theory  as  first  expounded  was  based  upon  the  meas- 
urements of  the  stature  of  over  900  English  individuals.16 
Galton  found  that  the  form  of  the  body  of  an  individual 
is  determined  by  the  racial  type  to  which  the  parents 
belong,  modified,  however,  by  a  tendency  of  reversion  to 
a  type  intermediate  between  the  special  variations  pre- 
sented by  the  parents.  For  example,  if  the  father  of  an 
individual  is  exceedingly  tall,  and  his  mother  somewhat 
taller  than  the  average,  it  is  often  found  that  the  children 
tend  to  develop  a  stature  which  is  somewhat  near  the 
general  type,  but  at  the  same  time  dependent  upon  the 
intermediate  value  located  between  the  stature  of  the 
mother  and  that  of  the  father.  In  accordance  with  this 
theory  it  was  found  that  the  influence  upon  the  individual 
of  inheritance  was  about  y±  from  each  parent  and  VIG 
from  each  grandparent.  This  law  of  regression  was 
found  to  hold  for  the  inheritance  of  stature,  eye-color, 
and  artistic  ability.  More  recent  studies  have  shown 
•  that  the  intensity  of  heredity  for  each  parent  may  be 
expressed  by  about  one-third.17  The  principle  of  regres- 
sion may  be  made  clearer  by  quoting  from  Professor 
Boas:  " Provided  the  mother  differs  in  her  stature  by  an 
amount  of  9  cm.  from  the  racial  norm, — for  instance,  if 

i*  Thomson  &  Geddes,  op.  cit.,  p.  137. 

is  Davenport,  f>p.  cit.,  p.  24.  m  Galton,  op.  cit.,  chs.  vi.  and  vii. 

if  Pearson,  K. — "On  the  Laws  of  Heredity  in  Man,"  Biometrika,  vol.  ii, 
p.  357  et  scq.;  and  Boas,  F. — "Heredity  in  Anthropometric  Traits,"  Amer. 
Anthropologist,  N.  S.,  vol.  ix,  p.  453  et  seq. 


18  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

she  is  9  cm.  taller  than  the  average  individual, — then  we 
may  expect  the  child  to  be  one-third  of  9  cm.,  or  3  cm., 
above  the  average.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  if  both 
parents  differ  in  the  same  direction  from  the  average, 
the  effect  of  both  will  be  cumulative;  and  if  both  differ 
from  the  average  of  their  people  by  the  same  amount, 
the  joint  effect  of  the  two  parents  may  be  expressed  by 
the  coefficient  of  about  two-thirds.  In  case,  for  instance, 
both  father  and  mother  should  be  9  cm.  above  the  type 
average,  we  should  expect  the  child  to  be  about  two-thirds 
of  9  cm.,  or  6  cm.,  above  the  average."  18 

These  variations,  inherited  in  accordance  with  the  laws 
that  have  been  outlined,  form  what  Professor  Thomson 
has  called  the  "raw  materials"  of  evolution.  Of  the 
origin  of  these  variations  we  know  little.  In  the  micro- 
cosm of  the  germ  cells  there  goes  on  a  process  of  extra- 
ordinarily intricate  permutation  and  combination. 
Weismann  supposes  that  there  is  a  struggle  within  the 
germ  cell  between  rival  hereditary  items.  However  this 
may  be,  there  is  much  research  still  necessary  before  we 
can  hope  to  speak  in  dogmatic  fashion  of  the  origin  of 
variations. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READINGS. 

BOAS,  F. — The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man. 
CRAMPTON,  H.  E. — The  Doctrine  of  Evolution. 
DARWIN,  C. — The  Origin  of  the  Species. 
DAVENPORT,  C.  B. — Heredity  in  Relation  to  Eugenics. 
GALTON,  F. — Natural  Inheritance. 

KELLICOTT,  W.  E. — The  Social  Direction  of  Human  Evolution. 
METCALF,  M  M. — Organic  Evolution. 
PUNNETT,  R.  C. — Mendelism. 

ROMANES,  G.  J. — Darwin  and  After  Darwin,  I  The  Darwinian 
Theory. 

is  Boas,   op.   cit.,  p.   82, 


ERRATA 
Page  17,  lines  19  to  27,  should  read — 

mother  and  that  of  the  father.  This  law  of  regression  was  found  to  hold 
for  the  inheritance  of  stature,  eye-color,  and  artistic  ability.  In  accordance 
with  another  Galton  theory  it  was  found  that  the  influence  upon  the  indi- 
vidual of  inheritance  was  about  1/4  from  each  parent  and  1/16  from  each 
grandparent.  More  recent  studies  have  shown  that  the  intensity  of  he- 
redity for  each  parent  may  be  expressed  by  about  1/3.  The  principle 
may  be  made  clearer  by  quoting  from  Professor  Boas:  "Provided  the 


VARIATION  AND  HEREDITY  19 

THOMSON,  J.  A.  &  GEDDES,  P. — Evolution  (Home  University 

Library ) . 

THORNDIKE,  E.  L. — Individuality. 
WEISMANN,  A. — The  Evolution  Theory. 


II 

THE  STRUGGLE  FOE  EXISTENCE 

HAVE  you  ever  strolled  across  the  sunlit  meadows  and 
then  entered  the  cool  silence  of  the  forest  and  wondered 
at  the  apparent  contentment  and  peace  that  reigned 
everywhere?  The  flowers  were  all  so  bright  and  birds 
chirping  or  singing  in  the  trees  seemed  to  lead  lives  of 
quiet  uneventfulness.  But  look  closer,  and  back  of  the 
silence  of  the  forest  is  the  cringing  fear  of  every  living 
thing.  Under  the  apparent  calm  of  nature  there  is  the 
constant  and  bitter  struggle  for  food,  air,  and  space, — 
for  life.  All  the  trees  and  flowers,  all  the  birds  and  other 
animals  are  engaged  in  a  continual  struggle  for  existence. 
There  is  struggle  between  plants  and  animals  of  the 
same  species  for  the  same  food  and  space ;  the  struggle  of 
each  and  all  against  unfavorable  conditions  of  climate, 
heat  and  cold,  flood  and  drouth ;  the  rivalry  between  them 
for  mates;  and  a  continual  effort  to  rear  their  young  in 
the  face  of  that  stern  necessity  which  decrees  that  in 
spite  of  the  strenuous  efforts  put  forth,  in  a  great  ma- 
jority of  cases  there  is  only  failure  and  death. 

This  fearful  struggle  for  existence  is  the  consequence 
of  two  facts :  first,  the  amount  of  food  and  space  upon  the 
earth  for  plant  and  animal  use  are  limited ;  and,  second, 
the  process  of  reproduction,  if  unhindered  by  any  ad- 
verse circumstances,  tends  to  increase  the  number  of  in- 
dividuals in  any  given  species  in  geometrical  ratio.  This 
means  that  in  every  generation  of  every  species  a  great 

20 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  EXISTENCE  21 

many  more  individuals  are  born  than  can  possibly  sur- 
vive. The  result  is  that  those  born  with  certain  weak- 
nesses or  under  unfavorable  conditions  are  the  ones  which 
are  most  likely  to  die,  while  those  possessing  greater 
strength  or  born  under  favorable  conditions  are  the  ones 
most  likely  to  live.  Hence  it  is  that  there  tends  to  be 
a  survival  of  the  fit.  Nature,  so  to  say,  selects  the  best 
to  survive. 

It  is  a  self-evident  fact  that  the  amount  of  space  upon 
the  earth  is  limited.  At  first  thought  it  is  not  so  evident 
that  living  things  tend  to  multiply  in  geometrical  pro- 
gression. But  the  truth  of  this  principle  is  easily  demon- 
strated. Romanes  tells  us  that  if  the  progeny  of  a  single 
pair  of  elephants,  which  are  the  slowest  breeding  of  ani- 
mals, were  allowed  to  reach  maturity  and  propagate,  in 
750  years  there  would  be  living  19,000,000  descendants.1 
Professor  Metcalf  has  computed  the  following  table  based 
upon  the  rate  of  increase  of  the  common  robin.  Sup- 
posing that  the  yearly  offspring  of  each  pair  of  robins  is 
four  on  the  average,  which  is  below  the  usual  number, 
then  a  single  pair  of  birds  would  have  four  young  in  the 
first  generation.  The  second  year  they  would  have  four 
more  young,  and  their  young  of  the  first  year,  mating, 
would  have  eight  young,  four  for  each  of  the  two  pairs. 
In  twenty  years  the  descendants  of  the  original  pair 
would  number  over  twenty  billion ! 2 

This  should  make  it  clear  that  the  earth  could  not  sup- 
port the  progeny  of  even  a  single  species  if  the  natural 
increase  were  allowed  to  go  unchecked. 

But  in  the  case  of  the  robins,  more  birds  die  each  year 
than  live  because  we  find  that  the  number  remains  con- 

1  Romanes,  G.  J. — Darwin  and  After  Darwin,  I  The  Darwinian  Theory, 
1901,  p.  261. 

2  Metcalf,  op.  cit.,  p.  14. 


22  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

stant  from  year  to  year.  There  seems  to  be  no  great 
fluctuation  in  the  number  of  any  species  from  year  to 
year.  Yet  this  apparently  high  death-rate  of  robins 
is  surpassed  by  that  of  many  other  species.  Among 
many  fishes  the  yearly  death-rate  is  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  times  as  great  as  the  permanent  population, 
since  on  the  average  only  one  male  and  one  female  out 
of  the  half  million  of  young  survive  to  take  the  place  of 
their  parents  and  keep  the  number  of  individuals  in  the 
species  up  to  the  usual  mark.  For  every  starfish  living 
nearly  half  a  million  die  each  year.3  Indeed,  taking 
organic  nature  as  a  whole  probably  not  one  in  a  thousand 
young  is  allowed  to  survive  to  the  age  of  reproduction.4 

Adults     Young 

One  pair  of  adult  robins 2 

First  year,  their  young 4 

Second  year 6  12 

Third  year 18  36 

Fourth  year 54  108 

Fifth  year 162  324 

Sixth  year 486  972 

Seventh  year 1,458  2,916 

Eighth  year 4,374  8,748 

Ninth  year 13,122  26,244 

Tenth  year 39,366  78,732 

End  of  tenth  year 118,098 

End  of  twentieth  year 20,913,948,846 

While  this  law  applies  to  the  lower  forms  of  life,  plants 
and  animals,  one  might  say  that  men  are  not  subject  to 
it.  It  is  true  that  the  rigors  of  the  crude  struggle  have 
been  somewhat  modified  by  man's  greater  cunning  and 
forethought,  but  the  law  holds  for  men  just  as  it  does 

s  Ibid.,  p.  15.  4  Romanes,  op  cit.,  p.  262. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOE  EXISTENCE  23 

for  snails  and  pansies,  though  in  a  slightly  lessened  de- 
gree. In  the  registration  area  of  the  United  States  in  the 
year  1910,  there  were  recorded  805,412  deaths  from  all 
causes.  When  we  examine  the  number  of  deaths  at  dif- 
ferent age  periods  we  find  that  26.98  per  cent,  of  those 
who  died  were  under  5  years  of  age.  At  no  other  five 
year  period  of  life  was  the  per  cent,  higher  than  6.2, 
and  this  was  at  the  five  year  age  period  65-69  years. 
The  following  table  shows  precisely  what  the  situation 
is.5 

Under  1  year 19.17  per  cent. 

1  year    4.11     " 

2  years 1.83     " 

3  years    1.09     " 

4  years    79     " 

Under  5  years   26.98     "       " 

5  to  9  years 2.23     "       " 

10  to  14  years 1.46     " 

15  to  19  years 2.45  "  " 

20  to  24  years 3.75  "  " 

25  to  29  years 4.07  "  " 

30  to  34  years 4.06  "  " 

35  to  39  years 4.43  "  " 

40  to  44  years 4.41  " 

45  to  49  years 4.65  "  " 

50  to  54  years 5.09  "  " 

55  to  59  years 5.04  "  " 

60  to  64  years 5.71  "  " 

65  to  69  years 6.29  " 

70  to  74  years 6.27  " 

75  to  79  years 5.65  "  " 

80  to  84  years 4.14  "  " 

85  to  89  years 2.24  "  " 

90  to  94  years 77 

95  years  and  over 18 

100  years  and  over 05  "  " 

*>  See  Statistical  Abstract  of  the  United  States,  1911,  p.  77. 


24  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

This  table,  especially  in  the  large  infantile  mortality,  is 
sufficient  to  show  that  the  struggle  for  life  is  not  a  phe- 
nomenon peculiar  to  lower  animals.  The  high  mortality 
in  early  years  is  evidence  of  the  selective  death-rate. 
The  26.98  per  cent,  of  deaths  under  5  years  of  age  in- 
dicates the  extinction  of  the  less  fit.  The  weaker  children 
and  those  born  under  unfavorable  circumstances  are  more 
likely  to  die  before  they  are  five  years  of  age  than  are 
the  stronger  children  or  those  born  under  more  favorable 
circumstances.  Thus  it  is  that  Nature  selects  the  fittest 
to  survive. 

Because  of  the  limited  amount  of  food  and  space  upon 
the  earth  and  because  many  more  individuals  are  born 
than  can  survive,  there  is  a  perpetual  battle  for  life  go- 
ing on  among  all  the  individuals  of  any  generation.  In 
this  terrible  struggle  for  existence  what  individuals  will 
be  victorious  and  live?  Obviously  those  best  fitted  to 
live,  in  whatever  respect  or  respects  their  superiority  of 
fitness  may  consist.  These  favored  individuals  transmit 
to  their  progeny  their  advantageous  qualities.  Accord- 
ing to  the  laws  of  heredity  the  characters  of  the  surviv- 
ing generation  are  inherited  by  their  offspring.  It 
therefore  follows  that  the  individuals  composing  each 
successive  generation  have  a  general  tendency  to  be 
better  suited  to  their  surroundings  than  were  their  fore- 
fathers. And  so  it  is  that  since  most  of  the  weaklings 
die  in  infancy,  the  perpetuation  of  the  race  is  by  the 
" flower  of  the  flock"  and  the  species  tends  to  grow 
stronger.  This  is  Darwin's  great  theory  of  Natural 
Selection,  or  selection  by  nature,  for,  out  of  the  thou- 
sands who  die,  the  thousandth  individual  who  does  sur- 
vive in  the  battle  for  existence  is  on  the  whole  the  one 
best  fitted  to  do  so.  If  now,  in  any  generation  some  new 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOE  EXISTENCE  25 

and  beneficial  qualities  happen  to  arise  as  slight  varia- 
tions from  the  ancestral  type,  they  will  (other  things 
permitting),  be  seized  upon  by  natural  selection,  and 
being  transmitted  by  heredity  to  subsequent  generations, 
will  be  added  to  the  previously  existing  type.  This  then, 
is  natural  selection  or  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  the 
one  term  referring  mainly  to  the  process,  the  other  to 
the  result. 

The  process  is  analogous  to  that  by  which  the  gardener 
and  the  cattle-breeder  bring  about  their  wonderful  re- 
sults. Just  as  these  men,  by  always  "selecting"  their 
best  individuals  to  breed  from,  slowly  but  continuously 
improve  their  stock,  so  Nature  by  a  process  of  "selec- 
tion," slowly  but  continuously  makes  the  various  species 
of  plants  and  animals  better  suited  to  the  conditions  of 
their  life.  What  the  skill  of  Luther  Burbank  has  ac- 
complished in  the  course  of  a  few  generations,  Nature 
takes  years  or  even  centuries  of  experimentation  to  pro- 
duce. By  artificial  selection,  man  works  on  external 
characters  irregularly  and  imperfectly  for  a  short  time. 
Nature  works  on  the  whole  machinery  of  life  by  con- 
sistent accumulation  during  whole  geological  epochs. 
Silently  and  insensibly  working,  natural  selection  is  daily 
and  hourly  scrutinizing  the  slightest  variation,  rejecting 
those  that  are  bad,  preserving  and  adding  up  all  that 
are  good.6 

Under  natural  conditions  there  is  an  endless  range  of 
variation.  We  have  seen  in  chapter  I  how  like  tends 
to  beget  like,  but  that  although  the  offspring  is  similar  to 
the  parent  there  is  never  precise  reduplication.  There 
is  latitude  allowed  for  individual  variation.  The  indi- 
vidual differences  are  due  to  age,  sex,  modification,  and 

« Thomson  &  Goddos,  op.  cit.,  p.  156. 


26 

real  germinal  variation.  Whatever  its  cause,  as  long 
as  the  variation  gives  advantage  in  the  struggle,  the  in- 
dividual which  possesses  it,  has  a  greater  chance  to  sur- 
vive, and  surviving,  to  transmit  it  to  his  offspring.  Oc- 
casionally, characters  seem  to  go  together  in  bundles, 
as  such  they  are  often  of  advantage  and  are  inherited. 
Some  variations  from  the  general  type  of  the  race  are 
not  transmitted.  Variations  of  the  mutation  kind  are 
inherited.  If  then,  a  mutation  gives  advantage  to  the 
individual  possessing  it,  that  individual  will  most  prob- 
ably survive  while  others  not  possessing  the  favorable 
trait  will  be  at  a  disadvantage.  But  survival  means  not 
simply  the  fact  of  a  safe  and  unhindered  enjoyment  of 
life.  It  means  the  bearing  and  rearing  of  young.  Bio- 
logically, survival  means  that  the  individual  reaches  ma- 
turity and  has  offspring  to  which  he  transmits  the  favor- 
able characteristics  that  aided  him  in  the  struggle. 

The  struggle  will  usually  be  most  severe  between  in- 
dividuals of  the  same  species,  for  they  frequent  the 
same  districts,  require  the  same  food,  and  are  exposed 
to  the  same  dangers.  In  such  a  case  the  most  minute 
variation  may  determine  which  will  survive.  As  many 
variations  seem  to  be  the  result  of  pure  chance,  so  sur- 
vival is  in  many  instances  the  result  of  pure  chance.  An 
illustration  will  make  this  clear.  Dr.  C.  B.  Davenport 
of  the  Carnegie  Institution  for  Experimental  Evolution, 
placed  300  chickens  in  an  open  field.  Eighty  per  cent, 
were  white  or  black  and  hence  conspicuous ;  20  per  cent, 
were  spotted  and  hence  inconspicuous.  In  a  short  time 
twenty-four  were  killed  by  crows,  but  only  one  of  the 
killed  was  spotted.  The  white  and  black  chickens  were 
easily  discernible  to  the  crows  and  hawks  flying  over- 
head, and  they  swooped  down  and  carried  off  twenty- 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  EXISTENCE  27 

three.  The  spotted  chickens  were  not  so  easily  seen 
from  above.  Only  one  of  them  was  killed.  Thus  the 
mere  chance  of  coat  color  was  a  decisive  factor  in  de- 
termining which  chickens  should  survive.  In  time  it  is 
probable  that  more  of  the  black  and  white  chickens  would 
be  killed  by  birds  of  prey  and  only  the  spotted  chickens 
would  be  left.  Their  offspring  would  tend  to  inherit 
their  spotted  coat  and  hence  survive.  All  offspring 
which  varied  from  this  type  in  the  direction  of  having  a 
vrliite  coat  or  a  black  coat  would  be  likely  to  be  killed  and 
leave  no  black  or  white  coated  progeny.  Eventually  we 
might  have  only  a  spotted  variety  of  chickens  in  this 
area.  This  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  principle 
of  natural  selection. 

Where  the  characters  of  an  inhabiting  species  show 
great  variation  we  conclude  that  there  has  not  been 
rigorous  selection  with  reference  to  that  character. 
That  is,  the  trait  in  question  is  one  which  at  the  time 
being  is  neither  of  great  disadvantage  nor  great  advan- 
tage to  those  who  possess  it.  It  was  originally  acquired 
or  preserved  because  it  was  favorable,  but  some  change 
has  been  wrought  which  makes  it  of  indifferent  value. 
On  the  other  hand  if  any  character  shows  very  slight 
variation  as  between  a  large  number  of  the  species,  we 
conclude  that  selection  with  reference  to  it  has  been 
severe;  that  is,  the  trait  in  question  gives  positive  ad- 
vantage. Thus,  before  the  coming  of  the  crows,  coat 
color  in  chickens  was  of  indifferent  value  for  survival 
and  there  was  wide  variation  from  white  to  black.  But 
with  the  coming  of  the  birds  of  prey  conditions  were 
changed  and  coat  color  had  a  positive  survival  value  if 
it  were  inconspicuous.  The  wide  variation  soon  dis- 
appeared (the  black  and  white  chickens  were  killed  off) 


28  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

and  all  the  chickens  had  a  spotted  coat.  So  by  recording 
the  variation  in  any  trait  we  can  tell  whether  it  has  a 
survival  value  and  whether  natural  selection  has  caused 
its  uniformity.  This  is  the  reason  why  we  find  that  all 
the  individuals  of  any  species  are  more  or  less  alike, 
because  variation  outside  of  certain  safe  limits  is  hazard- 
ous. 

A  rain  storm  once  washed  a  large  number  of  sparrows 
out  of  their  nests.  An  observer  gathered  the  injured 
sparrows  together  and  tried  to  revive  them.  A  large 
number  of  the  birds  recovered  but  some  did  not  survive. 
Measurements  of  all  the  dead  and  revived  sparrows  were 
taken  and  the  curve  showing  their  distribution  (the  fre- 
quency with  which  each  measure  occurred)  was  plotted. 
Then  the  measurements  of  the  revived  sparrows  were 
taken  separately  and  their  distribution  was  plotted.  It 
was  found  that  the  measurements  of  the  surviving  spar- 
rows varied  less  from  the  average  degree  of  the  charac- 
ter measured  than  did  the  measurements  of  the  dead 
sparrows ;  that  is,  the  dead  sparrows  were  more  variable. 
The  curve  representing  the  birds  which  survived  was  a 
narrower  and  steeper  curve,  which  showed  that  the  birds 
killed  were  more  largely  the  unusual,  the  extreme,  those 
widely  differing  from  the  average.  We  find  pretty  gen- 
erally that  the  extreme  variates  from  the  normal  are  less 
likely  to  survive  the  dangers  of  their  surroundings.  The 
more  normal  are  more  likely  to  survive. 

By  examining  the  smooth  curve  in  figure  2  which  rep- 
resents the  approximate  distribution  of  the  frequencies 
at  which  different  heights  occur  among  ten  and  one-half 
year  old  American  boys,  one  can  better  understand  this 
normal  order.  If  there  should  be  an  epidemic  of  scarlet 
fever  and  all  of  the  boys  contracted  the  disease,  30 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOE  EXISTENCE  29 

might  die.  Probably  the  boys  whose  stature  is  between 
145  and  153  cm.,  and  hence  considerably  above  the  normal 
(which  is  between  129  and  137  cm.),  are  boys  who  have 
outgrown  their  strength.  On  the  other  hand,  the  boys 
whose  stature  is  between  109  and  117  cm.,  and  hence  con- 
siderably below  the  normal,  are  boys  who  have  been 
stunted  perhaps  because  of  constitutional  weakness. 
This  group  of  extremely  tall  and  extremely  short  boys 
(for  the  age  of  lO1/^  years)  is  more  likely,  other  things 
being  equal,  to  succumb  to  the  disease,  than  the  more 
normal  individuals;  that  is,  outgrown  strength  and 
anemic  condition  in  the  one  case,  and  weak  constitution 
or  lack  of  nourishment  on  the  other,  constitute  conditions 
which  break  down  the  power  of  resistance  to  disease. 
It  is  therefore  possible  that  most  of  the  30  cases  of  mor- 
tality would  be  found  among  this  group  of  very  short 
and  very  tall  boys.  If  now,  the  curve  were  plotted  for 
the  remaining  970  boys  who  survived,  it  would  be  found 
that  the  curve  was  narrower  than  before,  that  is,  that 
the  falling  away  to  the  right  and  left  had  disappeared. 
In  some  such  way  as  this,  Nature  tends  to  cut  off  the 
extreme  variates  and  to  reduce  the  race  or  species  to  a 
certain  uniformity. 

The  plant  and  animal  organism  is  a  plastic  changing 
thing.  It  readily  adapts  itself  to  new  situations.  A 
sudden  change  in  climate  becoming  a  permanent  con- 
dition of  a  given  locality  will  affect  all  forms  of  life  in 
that  locality.  Some  individuals  will  not  have  sufficient 
adaptability  to  adjust  themselves  to  the  nefw  require- 
ments of  their  surroundings;  they  will  sicken  and  die. 
Those  individuals  who  chance  to  be  plastic  enough  to 
meet  the  change  by  new  adjustments  in  their  habits  and 
mode  of  life  will  most  probably  survive  and  pass  some 


30  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

of  their  favorable  qualities  to  their  progeny.  Some  in- 
dividuals will  be  born  with  variations  from  the  adapted 
ancestral  type  which  will  prove  of  decided  advantage. 
These  organisms  will  have  a  better  chance  to  survive 
than  those  that  happen  to  vary  from  the  ancestral  type 
in  a  disadvantageous  direction.  And  so,  in  the  course 
of  time,  as  the  climate  changes  in  that  locality,  the  plastic 
group  of  living  plants  and  animals  will  be  modified  and 
will  undergo  change  from  their  original  characteristics. 
As  intermediate  forms  perish  and  new  variations  appear 
giving  greater  advantage  in  ability  to  meet  the  condi- 
tions of  life,  the  present  inhabitants  will  differ  more  and 
more  from  the  original  inhabitants  so  that  if  we  were  to 
see  both  side  by  side  we  should  be  led  to  think  that  we 
were  observing  two  quite  distinct  forms  of  life  instead  of 
related  forms.  But  if  we  could  see  the  intermediate 
forms  we  could  reconstruct  the  series  and  understand 
how  one  form  was  descended  in  almost  direct  line  from 
another  form  now  quite  extinct  and  with  different  struc- 
ture and  function.  Although  the  intermediate  forms 
connecting  a  living  group  of  animals  with  an  older  form 
have  long  since  passed  from  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
naturalists  are  able  to  reconstruct  the  series  of  descent 
with  a  remarkable  degree  of  accuracy  because  Nature 
has  preserved  for  us  in  the  form  of  fossils  the  shape  and 
mold  in  which  these  creatures  were  cast  millions  of 
years  ago.  This  in  brief  is  Darwin's  famous  doctrine 
of  the  origin  of  the  species  by  descent  under  the  influence 
of  natural  selection.  It  is  the  core  of  the  theory  of 
Evolution. 

Let  us  now  summarize  the  points  that  have  been  made 
in  this  chapter: 

(1)  The  amount  of  food  and  space  upon  the  earth  for 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOE  EXISTENCE  31 

plant  and  animal  use  is  limited;  many  more  individuals 
are  born  than  can  survive;  the  result  is  a  perpetual 
struggle  for  survival. 

(2)  The  fittest  individuals  tend  to  be  the  ones  that 
survive;  the  battle  is  to  the  strong,  the  race  is  to  the 
swift. 

(3)  The   individuals    so    selected   transmit   many   of 
their  favorable  qualities  to  their  offspring  by  heredity. 

(4)  But   although   heredity   produces   a   wonderfully 
exact  copy  of  the  parent  in  the  child,  there  is  never  pre- 
cise reduplication.     There  is  latitude  for  individual  vari- 
ation.    If  among  the  innumerable  multitudes   of  indi- 
vidual variations  that  may  occur,  one  chances  to  appear 
which,  no  matter  in  how  slight  a  degree,  gives  the  in- 
dividual possessing  it  advantage  in  the  struggle,  that 
individual  is  bound  to  be  favored  with  longer  life  and 
larger  number  of  progeny — with  survival,  in  short. 

But  the  theory  of  natural  selection  proposes  to  ex- 
plain only  those  characters  which  give  advantage  in  the 
struggle  for  existence.  It  does  not  explain  the  existence 
of  certain  characters  which  do  not  give  definite  advan- 
tage to  their  possessors  and  yet  tend  to  persist  from 
generation  to  generation.  Some  of  these  characters,  like 
the  brilliant  plumage  of  certain  birds  (peacock  and  pea- 
hen), would  seem  to  be  of  positive  disadvantage  by 
making  them  conspicuous  to  their  enemies.  To  account 
for  these  markedly  contrasted  sex-characters,  Darwin 
advanced  the  theory  of  Sexual  Selection.  He  believed 
that  the  individuals  possessing  the  brilliant  coloring 
were  more  attractive  to  those  of  the  opposite  sex  and  so 
had  a  better  chance  to  mate  than  their  fellows  of  a  more 
sober  hue.  By  the  laws  of  heredity  the  brilliant  plumage 
was  transmitted,  and  the  less  attractive  individuals,  not 


32  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

securing  mates,  or  at  any  rate  less  robust  mates,  would 
have  fewer  progeny  and  eventually  their  line  would  die 
out.  There  were  also  combats  between  rival  males  for 
the  possession  of  females  as  well  as  the  preferential 
mating  where  the  female  chooses  or  seems  to  choose. 
There  is  little  reason  to  doubt  the  effect  of  selection 
where  there  is  combat  among  males.  For  when  the 
younger  or  weaker  candidates  are  killed,  or  expelled 
from  the  herd,  or  left  unmated,  there  is  discriminate 
elimination,  the  progeny  inherit  the  strong  constitutions 
of  their  parents.  But  as  to  preferential  mating,  the 
theory  has  broken  down  rather  badly  under  criticism 
since  Darwin's  time.7 

There  is  one  other  point  of  considerable  importance 
which  must  be  discussed  before  we  can  understand  the 
real  significance  of  natural  selection.  It  is  the  alleged 
inheritance  of  acquired  characters.  The  athlete  has 
larger  and  more  developed  muscles  than  the  average 
man.  Do  his  children  inherit  larger  and  more  developed 
muscles?  Many  years  ago  the  naturalist  Lamarck  ad- 
vanced a  theory  that  modifications  induced  in  the  struc- 
ture of  the  parent  by  adaptation  to  its  surroundings 
were  inherited  by  the  offspring.  His  classic  illustration 
of  this  theory  was  the  giraffe.  The  entire  frame  of  the 
giraffe  has  been  adapted  to  support  an  enormously  long 
neck  which  is  of  use  to  the  animal  in  reaching  the  foliage 
of  trees.  Lamarck  thought  that  the  ancestors  of  the 
giraffe  had  ordinary  necks  but  had  increased  the  length 
of  them  through  many  successive  generations  by  con- 
stantly stretching  to  reach  high  foliage.  Moreover,  when 
the  neck  became  so  long  as  to  require  for  its  support 
special  changes  in  the  general  form  of  the  animal,  these 

7  Thomson  &  Geddes,  op.  cit.,  p.  172. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  EXISTENCE  33 

changes  brought  about  the  dwindling  of  other  parts  from 
which  so  much  activity  was  no  longer  required.  The 
result  was  that  the  whole  organization  of  the  animal 
became  more  and  more  adapted  to  browsing  on  high 
foliage.  This  same  principle  was  applied  to  explain 
many  other  structural  peculiarities.  Before  we  can 
have  a  satisfactory  understanding  of  this  problem  it  is 
necessary  to  resort  to  the  theory  of  inheritance  explained 
in  chapter  I. 

In  speaking  of  inheritance  we  said  that  the  parent  was 
rather  the  trustee  of  the  germ-plasm  than  the  producer 
of  the  child.  In  higher  plants  and  animals  the  function 
of  reproduction  is  not  performed  by  the  body  as  a  whole, 
but  is  given  over  to  special  groups  of  cells,  the  germ 
cells,  constituting  the  ovaries  and  testes.  It  is  from 
these  cells  that  new  individuals  arise.  In  view  of  this 
the  problem  we  have  just  been  considering  is  not  so 
simple.  For  example,  how  can  the  enlargement  of  a 
muscle  due  to  exercise,  so  affect  the  germ  cells,  which 
lie  at  some  distance  from  the  muscle  in  question,  as  to 
cause  the  new  individual,  which  shall  arise  from  these 
germ  cells,  to  have  the  corresponding  muscle  in  its  own 
body  enlarged?  Under  ordinary  conditions  it  is  only 
the  germ  cells  in  the  body  which  have  any  descendants 
in  the  following  generation.  In  the  body  there  are 
muscle  cells,  bone  cells,  nerve  cells,  etc.  Weismann  used 
the  term  soma  to  include  all  the  cells  of  the  body  which 
are  not  germ  cells.  Now  the  whole  body  of  the  offspring 
comes  from  the  union  of  two  germ  cells;  an  egg  from  one 
parent  and  a  spermatozoon  from  the  other.  No  somatic 
cell  gives  rise  to  any  part  of  the  offspring.  While  the 
fertilized  egg  is  developing  into  an  adult  organism  it 
divides  into  a  number  of  portions  called  blastomeres, 


34  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

some  of  these  form  the  germ  cells  of  the  new  individual, 
the  remainder  become  its  soma.  The  germ  cells  of  one 
generation  are  thus  derived  almost  directly  from  the 
germ  cells  of  the  preceding  generation.  On  can  now 
understand  more  clearly  the  significance  of  the  theory 
of  the  continuity  of  germinal  plasm.  Professor  Metcalf 


GENERATION    A 


GENERATION    0 


GENERATION    C 


GENERATION     0 


GERM   CELLS 


GERM    CELLS 


GERM    CELLS 


GERM    CELLS 


SOMA 


SOMA 


SOMA 


SOMA 


From  MuU-alf ,   "Organic  Evolution." 

FIGURE  7.     Diagram  of  Inheritance  of  Body  Cells  and  Germ  Cells. 

has  illustrated  this  principle  by  the  simple  diagram 
shown  in  figure  7.8 

The  diagram  shows  that  both  the  germ  cells  and  the 
soma  of  any  generation  are  derived  from  the  germ 
cells  alone  of  the  preceding  generation.  No  modifica- 
tion in  a  somatic  cell  of  the  parent  could,  therefore, 
cause  a  corresponding  modification  in  the  soma  of  the 
child;  because  the  soma  of  the  child  is  descended  from 
the  parental  germ  cells.  In  the  case  of  the  athlete  the  en- 
larged muscles  would  mean  modification  in  the  soma, 
but  this  modification  would  not  appear  in  his  child  be- 
cause only  the  germ  cell  is  inherited,  not  the  soma. 

Modifications  of  the  soma  are  of  two  kinds:  first, 
those  produced  by  the  effect  of  the  environment  upon 
the  organism ;  and  second,  those  resulting  from  the  re 

*  Metcalf,  op.  cit.,  p.  73. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOE  EXISTENCE  35 

tiou  upon  itself  of  the  activity  of  the  animal  or  plant.9 
The  occupation  of  a  blacksmith  is  one  which  develops 
the  muscles  of  the  arm  by  the  continuous  and  vigorous 
form  of  exercise  of  hammering  iron.  If  the  blacksmith 
has  a  son  who  becomes  a  bookkeeper,  does  the  son  have 
any  stronger  right  arm  than  he  would  have  had  if  his 
father  had  been  an  office  clerk?  Certainly  the  size  of 
a  muscle  is  increased  by  use,  and  .decreased  size  results 
from  disuse.  Are  these  effects  inherited  by  the  off- 
spring? One  point  must  be  noted  carefully:  the 
fact  that  the  blacksmith  does  develop  strong  muscles  as 
a  result  of  the  exercise  shows  that  he  must  have  an  in- 
born capacity  for  developing  strong  muscles  by  exer- 
cise. But  if  the  blacksmith  inherited  from  his  parents 
the  ability  to  develop  strong  muscles  by  exercise,  his 
son  in  turn  would  inherit  from  him  the  same  ability. 
Exercise  or  the  lack  of  it  would  therefore  only  bring  'out 
the  latent  tendency  or  simply  leave  the  natural  tendency 
to  work  itself  out.  The  innate  capacity  would  be  in- 
herited, not  the  accentuated  development  induced  by  ex- 
ercise. The  child  is  not  the  child  of  the  biceps  muscle 
of  the  parent,  but  the  child  of  the  germ  cells  of  the 
parent.  The  biceps  muscle  of  the  parent  has  little  to  do 
with  these  germ  cells.  How  therefore,  could  the  use  of 
biceps  muscle  in  the  arm  of  the  parent  so  affect  the  off- 
spring that  he  would  have  stronger  biceps  than  if  his 
parent  had  not  developed  his  own  through  exercise? 
There  is  little  evidence  to  support  the  doctrine  of  trans- 
mission of  acquired  characteristics. 

But  if  there  is  no  direct  transmission  of  the  individual 
modifications  produced  by  environment,  wherein  does 
the  importance  of  function  and  environment  consist? 

d.,  p.  75, 


36  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

The  answer  is  found  in  the  selective  influence  of  environ- 
ment. There  is  an  endless  diversity  of  environments. 
The  iceberg,  the  hot  spring,  the  mountain  top,  the  abysses 
of  the  ocean,  the  interior  of  another  creature,  all  con- 
stitute a  complex  of  changing  influences.  In  many  cases 
where  the  external  changes  are  regularly  recurrent  like 
the  seasons  and  the  tides,  the  organism  falls  into  step 
with  them  so  that  there  are  internal  rhythms.  To  some 
of  these  changes  the  living  organism  is  able  to  adjust 
itself  temporarily.  To  others  the  response  is  not  so 
delicate  and  the  novel  conditions  provoke  structural 
changes  from  which  the  organism  never  recovers,  the 
limits  of  organic  elasticity  having  been  passed.  Adapta- 
tion is  the  key-note  of  organic  nature,  and  it  is  exactly 
the  thing  natural  selection  secures.  However  modified, 
those  individuals  which  are  not  adapted  to  their  environ- 
ment are  destroyed  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  leaving 
only  the  well-adapted  forms  alive.  The  environment 
molds  the  living  organism.  Those  whose  innate  plas- 
ticity is  equal  to  the  occasion  are  modified  and  survive. 
Those  whose  plasticity  is  not  equal  to  the  occasion  are 
exterminated.  This  modification  takes  place  generation 
after  generation,  but,  as  such,  is  not  inherited.  But  any 
variations  arising  in  the  germ  cells  which  are  similar 
in  direction  to  these  modifications,  will  tend  to  support 
them,  and  to  favor  the  organism  in  which  they  occur. 
Thus  plastic  modification  leads,  and  germinal  variation 
(variations  arising  in  the  germ  cells)  follows;  the  one 
paving  the  way  for  the  other.  The  modification  is  not 
inherited,  but  it  establishes  a  condition  under  which  con- 
genital variations  10  are  given  time  to  get  a  hold  on  the 

10  Congenital   variations    are   variations   which    arise    in   the   germ   cell. 
They    are    variations    which    are    inherited.     They    are    not    modifications. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOE  EXISTENCE  37 

organism,  and  are  thus  enabled  by  degrees  to  reach,  the 
fully  adaptive  level.  Natural  selection  cuts  off  the  un- 
adapted  individual.  The  plastic  individual  though  orig- 
inally unadapted  to  its  particular  environment,  may  be 
modified  in  such  a  manner  that  it  survives.  Of  its  off- 
spring those  who  are  plastic  and  adaptable  survive,  all 
others  perish.  But  if  one  among  its  offspring  possesses 
a  germinal  variation  which  better  adapts  it  to  the  sur- 
rounding conditions,  it  immediately  has  an  advantage  in 
the  struggle,  and  its  progeny  will  inherit  the  favorable 
quality.  These  offspring  which  possess  an  innate  adap- 
tation will  have  a  much  better  chance  for  longer  life  and 
larger  families  than  those  which  possess  mere  plastic 
modifiability.  In  this  way,  during  the  evolution  of  life 
from  low  to  higher  and  higher  forms,  Nature  has  weeded 
out  and  exterminated  the  ill-adapted  organisms,  tolerat- 
ing the  temporary  compromise  of  modification  until  the 
progress  of  reproduction  shall  give  rise  to  a  real  ger- 
minal variation  (mutation)  which  brings  renewed  stabil- 
ity to  the  species. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READINGS. 

BOAS,  F. — The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man. 

CRAMPTON,  H.  E. — The  Doctrine  of  Evolution. 

DARWIN,  C. — The  Origin  of  the  Species. 

DAVENPORT,  C.  B. — Heredity  in  Relation  to  Eugenics. 

GALTON,  F. — Natural  Inheritance. 

KELLICOTT,  W.  E. — The  Social  Direction  of  Human  Evolution. 

METCALF,  M.  M. — Organic  Evolution. 

PUNNETT,  R.  C. — Mendelism. 

Since  modifications  do  not  seem  to  be  inherited,  it  follows  that  the  only 
kind  of  variations  which  count  in  the  offspring  are  germinal  variations. 
Mutations  or  stable  variations  are  germinal  variations  and  are  therefore  of 
more  importance  in  evolution  than  fluctuating  or  unstable  variations  which 
are  not  transmitted  to  offspring.  See  Metcalf,  pp.  82-86. 


38 


ROMANES,  G.  J. — Darwin  and  After  Darwin,  I  The  Darwinian 

Theory. 
THOMSON,  J.  A.  &  GEDDES,  P. — Evolution  (Home  University 

Library). 

THORNDIKE,  E.  L. — Individuality. 
WEISMANN,  A. — The  Evolution  Theory. 


Ill 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN 

SINCE  we  explain  the  origin  of  different  forms  of  ani- 
mal life  by  adaptive  modification  and  descent,  it  is  only 
one  step  further  to  apply  the  same  reasoning  to  the 
human  species  and  to  account  for  man  as  descended 
from  some  lower  animal  form  now  extinct.  Darwin 
advanced  this  theory  in  his,  " Descent  of  Man."  Since 
Darwin  wrote  there  has  been  much  evidence  gathered 
to  support  the  doctrine  of  descent.  The  evidence  of 
evolution  is  now  based  upon  the  discoveries  of  the  ex- 
plorer, paleontologist,  anatomist,  embryologist,  and 
physiologist.  Most  natural  scientists  regard  this  body 
of  testimony  as  constituting  a  confirmation  of  the  theory 
of  evolution.  For  certain  forms  of  life  it  is  indeed,  quite 
conclusive.1  In  this  chapter,  we  shall  concern  ourselves 
with  an  examination  of  the  chief  evidences  for  the  doc- 
trine that  man  is  descended,  in  common  with  other  ani- 
mals now  living,  from  some  lower  and  extinct  form. 

The  success  of  any  demonstration  that  man  is  related 
by  descent  to  some  lower  creature  depends  largely  upon 
our  ability  to  reconstruct  the  series  of  related  forms. 
When  the  doctrine  of  the  descent  of  man  was  first  ad- 
vanced, superficial  and  popular  writers  immediately 
jumped  at  the  conclusion  that  naturalists  believed  that 
man  was  descended  from  the  "monkey."  This,  of 

1  But  this  is  a  matter  that  the  reader  can  look  up  for  himself  in  the 
many  books  now  available  upon  the  subject. 

39 


40  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

course,  is  quite  absurd,  as  man  could  obviously  not  be 
descended  from  a  form  of  life  now  living.  The  ape 
and  the  monkey  family,  together  with  man,  are  probably 
descended  from  some  generalized  ape-like  form  long 
since  perished  from  the  earth.  They  both  may  have  a 
common  ancestor:  one  is  not  descended  from  the  other. 

The  human  species  or  Hominidae  is  not  descended  from 
the  Gorilla  or  the  Chimpanzee,  but  the  ascent  of  the 
Hominidae  is  in  an  independent  line  from  some  long  since 
extinct  generalized  form,  from  which  the  other  branches 
also  spring  in  independent  lines.2  All  have  some  features 
in  common,  while  each  presents  some  special  characters. 
The  points  of  resemblance  between  the  Hominidae  and 
the  Simiidae  are  far  more  numerous  than  between  the 
Hominidae  and  any  other  group.  Keane  infers  from 
this  that  the  divergence  of  the  higher  groups  took  place 
in  the  sequence  indicated  in  the  following  classification. 
For  this  reason  the  study  of  man  from  the  physical  side  is 
confined  to  his  relation  to  the  higher  apes.3 

It  has  been  customary  in  modern  zoological  classifica- 
tion to  detach  from  the  Class  Mammals,  the  large  and 
dispersed  group  of  Apes  and  Half- Apes  (Lemurs),  to 
constitute  the  independent  order  of  Primates,  so  named 
by  Linne.  Eecent  systematists  divide  the  order  into  two 
suborders,  Lemuroidea  and  Anthropoidea,  and  subdivide 
the  Anthropoidea,  the  manlike  forms,  into  five  families— 
HapalidcK,  Cebidce,  Cercopithecidce,  Simiidce,  and  Hom- 
inidcB  (human  species).4  The  reasons  for  asserting  that 
men  are  primates  and  are  closely  related  to  the  Simiida?, 
are,  that  part  for  part  the  skeletons,  pelvis,  ribs,  hands, 
feet,  spinal  columns,  teeth,  and  bones  of  the  skull,  are 

2  Keane,  A.  H. — Ethnology,  1896,  p.  19. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  20.  4  Ibid.,  p.  17. 


From  Romanes,  "  Darwin  and  after  Darwin. 


FIGURE  8.     Hair-tracts  on  the  Arms  and  Hands  of  Man,  as  compared  with 
those  on  the  Arms  and  Hands  of  the  Chimpanzee. 


43 

the  same  in  all  fundamental  regards.  In  all  essential 
features  the  sets  of  bone  parts  are  closely  similar.5 
Now  if  we  turn  to  structures  other  than  the  skeleton  wo 
find  there  are  some  remarkable  similarities  in  certain 
minor  details.  For  example,  we  think  of  hairiness  of 
the  apes  as  distinguishing  them  rather  sharply  from  man, 
but  in  reality  the  whole  of  the  human  body  is  covered 
with  hair,  except  the  palms  of  the  hands,  the  soles  of  the 
feet,  and  the  backs  of  certain  terminal  joints;  these 
same  portions  are  hairless  in  apes.  Moreover,  the  slant 
of  the  hair  in  the  several  regions  of  the  body,  notably 
on  the  arms,  is  the  same  that  we  observe  in  apes.6  In 
apes  and  man  there  is  reminiscence  of  the  ancestral 
functional  tail — the  coccyx,  in  fact,  a  reduced  tail.7  Our 
ears  are  slightly,  if  at  all  movable,  yet  we  retain  in  a 
vestigial  condition  the  muscles  which  in  some  ancestor 
must  have  served  to  move  the  ears.8  The  vermiform  ap- 
pendix is  less  developed  in  man  than  in  the  apes,  and  is 
relatively  larger  in  the  human  fetus  than  in  adult  man. 
Moreover,  at  the  inner  angle  of  the  human  eye  is  a  fold 
of  tissue  which  has  little  or  no  meaning  unless  it  be  ex- 
plained as  a  remnant  of  that  third  eyelid  which  in  many 
lower  vertebrates,  for  example,  birds,  is  greatly  devel- 
oped and  can  be  drawn  over  the  whole  eyeball  inside  the 
outer  eyelids.  Unless  we  regard  these  vestigial  struc- 
tures in  man  as  the  traces  of  an  earlier  condition  through 
which  our  ancestors  have  passed,  they  have  no  intelli- 
gent meaning. 

The  study  of  embryology  reveals  many  points  of  re- 
semblance between  the  human   embryo,  in   the  earlier 

5  Romanes,  op.  cit.,  pp.  74-93;  Metcalf,  op.  cit.,  pp.  167-172. 

«  See  figure  8. 

f  See  figure  9.  *  See  figure  10. 


44 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


stages  of  its  growth,  and  the  embryos  of  a  number  of 
other  vertebrates.    Figure  11   shows  how  the  embryo 


From  Koinaucs,   "  Darwin  and  after  Da 


FIGURE  9. 


Front  and  Back  View  of  Adult  Human  Sacrum,  showing  abnor- 
mal persistence  of  Vestigial   Tail-muscles. 

of  man  is  closely  related  to  the  embryo  of  lower  forms, 
where  in  stages  I  and  II  many  features  of  the  human 
embryo  are  reminiscent  of  its  fishlike  early  ancestors. 
There  is  an  epigram  among  zoologists  that  the  individual 
climbs  up  .its  own  genealogical  tree.  This  bears,  of 
course,  only  a  general  interpretation.  Yet,  there  is  lit- 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN      45 

tie  doubt  that  the  development  of  the  individual  is  in 
some  measure  to  be  explained  as  a  condensed  recapitu- 


From  Romanes,  "Darwin  and  after  Darwin.' 


FIGUBK  10.     Rudimentary,  or  Vestigial  and  Useless,  Muscles  of 
the  Human  Ear. 

lation  of  the  presumed  racial  evolution.  In  other  words, 
the  individual  in  its  embryological  development  passes 
through  with  relative  rapidity,  the  lower  stages  and  the 
intermediate  forms  which  took  millions  of  years  in  the 
slower  process  of  evolution  for  the  species  to  achieve. 
In  this  sense  the  embryological  development  of  the  in- 


46  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

dividual  is  a  recapitulation  of  the  life  history  of  the 
species. 

During  the  early  life  of  the  human  infant  there 
are  indications  of  considerable  interest.  In  the  devel- 
opment of  the  child  after  birth  the  spinal  column  has  a 
single  curve,  as  it  does  in  apes  and  monkeys,  instead  of 
the  S-shaped  curve  seen  in  adult  human  beings.  The 
baby  holds  its  feet  in  a  position  characteristic  of  the 
apes.9  For  a  few  weeks  after  birth,  the  child  has  a  re- 
markably strong  finger-grip,  recalling  the  strength  with 
which  the  young  apes  grasp  the  mother's  hair,  as  she 
climbs  with  them  among  the  trees.  The  young  baby  is 
able  to  sustain  its  own  weight  by  its  hands.  When  it 
hangs  in  this  manner  it  often  shows  a  position  of  the 
legs  which  are  strikingly  apelike.10 

There  is  much  more  evidence  along  anatomical  and 
embryological  lines,  but  the  character  of  this  evidence 
has  been  sufficiently  illustrated.  The  whole  structure 
of  man  shows  that  he  has  arisen  by  differentiation  from 
lower  vertebrates.  There  seems  to  be  no  scientific  rea- 
son for  separating  man  from  the  rest  of  the  animal 
kingdom  as  regards  the  processes  of  evolution.11  We 
do  not  yet  know  all  the  stages  through  which  the  human 
body  passed  in  the  process  of  its  evolution,  and  we  do 
not  know  many  of  the  details  by  which  his  mental  facul- 
ties have  arisen  from  the  lower  condition  of  mind  seen 
in  other  vertebrates;  but  the  evidence  which  we  do  pos- 
sess presents  no  serious  reason  for  believing  that  the 
method  of  their  evolution  has  been  different  in  any 
fundamental  regard  from  the  methods  by  which  the 
minds  and  bodies  of  other  animals  have  been  developed.12 

9  See   figure   12.  n  Metcalf.  op.  cit.,  p.  170, 

10  See  figure   13.  ^  Ibid. 


From  Kouianeo,   "  1  Mr  win  and  after  Darwin.' 


FICJUBE  11.    A  Series  of  Embryos  at  Three  Comparable  and  Progressive  Stages  of. 
Development,  representing  Four  Divisions  of  the  Cla?s-Mammalia, 


49 

In  common*  with  other  animals  men  often  fail  in  the 
struggle  for  existence,  become  submerged  and  disappear. 
Natural  selection  operates  among  mankind  to  extermin- 
ate the  unfit  and  to  preserve  the  better  adapted  individ- 
uals who  transmit  to  their  children  the  characteristics 


From  Romanes,   "  Darwin  and  after  Darwin." 

FIGUBE  12.  Portrait  of  a  Young  Male  Child.  Photographed  from 
life,  when  the  mobile  feet  were  for  a  short  time  at  rest  in  a 
position  quite  apelike. 

which  gave  them  advantage.  Sexual  selection  is  prob- 
ably more  operative  in  man  than  in  any  other  animal 
species.  Among  men,  especially  civilized  man,  choice 
in  marriage  has  come  to  be  based  less  upon  the  physical 
attractions  which  appeal  to  the  lower  animals,  and  more 
largely  upon  intellectual  and  moral  attractions.  Sexual 
selection  thus  serves  to  increase  and  perpetuate  these 
highly  important  characteristics. 


50  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

We  have  now  reviewed  the  evidence  which  leads  us 
to  believe  that  man  is  related  to  forms  of  life  still  ex- 
tant. This  evidence  constitutes  a  presumption  which 
justifies  us  in  the  belief  that  we  shall  discover  the  inter- 
mediate forms  and  so  partially  complete  the  series  of 
man's  descent.  The  gaps  in  this  series  must  be  filled 
by  the  reconstructed  skeletons  of  bone  remains  of  pre- 
historic man.  In  consideration  of  the  fact  that  bone 
usually  decays  within  a  comparatively  short  time,  the 
chances  are  slight  of  finding  remains  in  a  sufficient  state 
of  preservation  to  constitute  positive  evidence.  Under 
certain  peculiar  conditions,  these  bone  remains  are  pre- 
served for  great  periods  of  time.  They  must  be  pro- 
tected from  the  action  of  the  air,  the  corrosive  action  of 
water,  and  from  the  destructive  action  of  insects  and  cer- 
tain plant  agencies  which  cause  decay.  The  necessary 
conditions  are  present  in  dry  caves  and  where  natural 
agencies  have  deposited  layers  of  sand  and  gravel. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  bone  remains  of  prehistoric  man 
are  most  frequently  found  in  undisturbed  boulder-clays 
and  drift,  or  imbedded  in  the  floor  of  some  cave  of  great 
antiquity.  Investigation  and  discovery  have  brought  to 
light  a  considerable  number  of  bone  remains  of  prehis- 
toric man.  We  shall,  therefore,  examine  this  evidence 
to  ascertain  how  far  we  may  expect  to  reconstruct  the 
intermediate  steps  in  the  descent  of  man. 

In  the  first  place  how  are  we  able  to  tell  •  certainly 
whether  any  bone  remains  which  we  find  are  reminis- 
cent of  prehistoric  man?  Is  it  not  possible  that  they 
are  simply  the  remains  of  some  relatively  modern  patho- 
logical individual  and  not  of  some  lower  type  of  man? 
The  associated  circumstances  are  of  utmost  importance. 
If  the  particular  part  of  a  skull  which  we  have  discovered 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN      51 

was  found  imbedded  many  feet  below  the  surface  in 
undisturbed  beds  of  sand  or  gravel  and  geologists  tell  us 
the  age  of  the  sand  bed,  the  age  of  the  remains  must  be  at 


FIGURE  13.  An  infant,  three  weeks  old,  supporting  its 
own  weight  for  over  two  minutes.  The  attitude  of 
the  lower  limbs,  feet,  and  toes  is  strikingly  simian. 


least  as  old  as  the  sand  bed.  Geologists  are  able  to  esti- 
mate with  approximate  accuracy  the  age  of  certain  de- 
posits of  sand  or  gravel  by  determining  the  rate  at  which 
similar  beds  are  being  formed  at  the  present  day  through 
the  agency  of  rivers  or  glaciers.  In  this  way  we  may  be 
certain  of  the  age  of  these  remains  within  a  negligible 
error.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  geologists  measure 


52  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

time  in  thousands  and  millions  of  years.13  Geologists 
divide  the  time  of  the  earth's  development  from  an  un- 
inhabitable sphere  to  its  present  state,  into  several  great 
epochs  in  accordance  with  the  type  of  rock  formation 
existing.  The  Paleozoic  or  Primary  and  the  Mesozoic 
or  Secondary,  cover  the  vast  epochs  when  only  the  most 
rudimentary  form  of  life  existed.  It  is  the  Tertiary  and 
the  Quaternary,  the  periods  during  which  Mammals  ap- 
peared, that  are  of  interest  to  us.  As  will  be  seen  from 
the  diagram,  the  early  or  lower  quaternary  began  about 
three-quarters  of  a  million  years  ago.  The  first  fossil 
remains  of  prehistoric  man  come  from  the  geological 
formation  of  this  period. 

Before  we  may  hope  to  have  a  clear  understanding  of 
the  antiquity  of  man  there  is  some  further  evidence  of  a 
geological  nature  which  we  shall  have  to  examine. 

It  is  important  to  know  the  main  facts  and  theories 
of  the  glacial  periods  because  it  is  the  duration  and  fre- 
quency of  occurrence  of  these  ice  ages  which  give  us  the 
most  trustworthy  evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  man.  If 
we  can  learn  the  age  of  certain  glacial  deposits  by  meas- 
uring their  rate  of  formation,  we  are  in  a  position  to 
say  something  definite  as  to  the  age  of  human  remains 
and  implements  found  beneath  them.  It  is  a  generally 
accepted  fact  that  many  ages  ago  there  were  vast  sheets 
of  continental  ice  mantling  large  portions  of  Europe  and 
North  America,  just  as  Greenland  is  mantled  to-day.14 
But  it  is  not  so  generally  known  that  the  cold  was  not 
constant  during  the  age  of  ice.  The  first  southward  ad- 
vance of  the  Arctic  ice-sheet  was  followed  by  a  period  of 
retreat  during  which  temperate  conditions  prevailed.  In 

is  See  figure  14  for  the  comparative  magnitude  of  geologic  time  and  the 
age  of  human  remains.  1*  See  figure  15. 


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54 

regions  once  inhabited  by  cold  climate  fauna  one  finds 
creatures  whose  structure  and  habits  show  them  to  have 
been  denizens  of  warmer  lands.  There  were  climatic 
fluctuations  with  alternate  advance  and  retreat  of  the  ice. 
Modern  geologists  count  four  glacial  epochs  covering  the 


From  Geikie  "The  Great  Ice  Age." 

FIGURE  15.     Europe  during  the  Period  of  Maximum  Glaciation. 

period  of  the  Pleistocene  (see  quaternary  in  diagram).15 
The  causes  of  these  great  climatic  fluctuations  which 
brought  about  the  ice  ages  are  variously  explained  by 
geologists  in  accordance  with  three  hypotheses.16  In  the 
course  of  these  ice  ages  the  glaciers  pushed  southward 

is  Lull,  R.  S. — "Glacial  Man,"  The  Tale  Review,  vol.  1,  N.  S.,  1912,  p. 
377. 

1(>  See  Chamberlain  and  Salisbury, — Geology,  vol.  iii,  pp.  424-446. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN      57 

gouging  out  valleys  as  they  went  and  carried  along 
with  them  masses  of  stone  and  rock  fragments  which 
were  finally  deposited  along  the  melting  front  or  lateral 
areas  to  the  glacier.17  Glacial  streams  flowed  from  under 
the  slowly  moving  ice  and  carried  fine  detritus  and  sand 
many  miles  beyond  the  ice  line,  eventually  depositing 
this  material  in  deltas  or  flood  plains  and  burying  deep 
all  small  objects  lying  upon  the  surface. 

The  problem  of  the  geographical  center  from  which 
man  migrated  to  finally  populate  the  earth  is  still  un- 
solved. Tradition  has  designated  Central  Asia  as  the 
place  of  dispersion.  In  Central  Asia  are  found  the  re- 
mains of  sand-buried  cities  so  ancient  that  the  very  tra- 
ditions concerning  them  have  perished.18  Moreover,  the 
wild  progenitors  of  our  domestic  animals — horses,  cat- 
tle, sheep,  goats,  swine,  dogs,  camels,  buffalo  and  fowl — 
had  their  habitations  in  Central  Asia. 

But  there  are  other  considerations.  Geologists  tell 
us  that  the  land  formation  of  the  present  continent  of 
Europe  underwent  many  changes  in  the  later  Tertiary 
and  during  the  early  Quaternary.  Coincident  with  the 
glacial  epochs  there  seem  to  have  been  alternating  sub- 
sidences and  upheavals  of  sections  of  the  continent. 
There  appears,  however,  to  have  been  a  strip  of  dry  land 
fairly  constant  in  its  outline  which  extended  from  the 
valley  of  the  Thames  and  the  Rhine  in  northwestern 
Europe  to  the  present  island  of  Java  at  the  southeast 
of  Asia.19  It  is  in  this  strip  of  territory  that  the  most 
important  discoveries  of  prehistoric  man  have  been 
made. 

IT  See  figure  16.  is  Lull,  op.  cit.,  p.  377. 

i»  See  Keane,  op.  cit.,  p.  54;  Brinton,  D.  G. — Knees  and  Peoples,  1890, 
pp.  86-89;  Giddings,  F.  H.—  The  Principles  of  Sociology,  1909,  pp.  214-216. 


58  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

The  first  important  discovery  of  the  existence  of  an 
early  example  of  mankind  differing  markedly  from  any 
living  and  of  a  decidedly  lower  type,  was  made  in  1857 
when  part  of  a  skull  was  found  in  a  cave  near  Diissel- 
dorf,  Germany.  The  bones  consisted  of  the  upper  por- 
tion of  a  cranium,  remarkable  for  its  flat  retreating 
curve,  the  upper  arm  and  thigh  bones,  a  shoulder  blade 
and  collar  bone,  and  rib  fragments.20  Figures  17  and  18 
show  the  general  contour  of  this  Neanderthal  skull. 
There  was  at  first  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  its  au- 
thenticity. Some  naturalists  maintained  that  it  was  a 
pathological  specimen.  But  its  normal  character  has 
since  been  fully  demonstrated.  Huxley  conceived  the 
Neanderthal  man  as  short  of  stature  but  powerfully  built, 
with  strong,  curiously  curved  thigh  bones  so  constructed 
that  the  man  must  have  walked  with  bended  knees,  po&v 
sessing  heavy  brow  ridges,  heavy  brutal  jaw  with  re- 
ceding chin.  The  artist's  conception  of  the  Neanderthal 
man  is  shown  in  the  figures.21  Although  the  Neanderthal 
man  was  of  the  small  stature  of  5  feet  3l/2  inches,  he  was 
probably  a  mighty  hunter,  able  to  contend  with  the 
rudest  weapons  against  the  rhinoceros,  mammoth,  cave 
bear,  and  other  beasts.  Since  the  discovery  of  this  skull 
near  Diisseldorf,  other  specimens  of  the  same  general 
type  have  come  to  light  serving  to  indicate  how  wide- 
spread was  the  Neanderthal  race  of  men.  In  1866  part 
of  a  jaw  quite  different  from  the  typical  jaw  of  to-day 
was  found  at  La  Naulette,  Belgium ;  and  in  1886,  at  Spy, 
Belgium,  specimens  were  discovered  in  which  the  Nean- 
derthal type  of  cranium  was  associated  with  the  Naulette 

aoReane,  op.  cit.,  pp.  33-34,  145-146. 
21  See  Frontispiece  and  figure  20. 


From  Birkner,  "  Dcr  Diluvialo  Mcnsch  In  Europa 


FIGUHE  17.     Top  and  Side  view  of  Neanderthal  Cranium. 


61 

type  of  jaw.22  These  discoveries  lead  us  to  believe  that 
a  primitive  race  was  widely  distributed  in  Europe,  earlier 
than  the  cave  man  in  point  of  time  and  inferior  to  him  in 
intelligence  and  capacity. 

In  1891  to  1892,  the  island  of  Java,  itself  a  remnant 


From  Birkner,  "  Der  Diluviale  Hensch  in  Europa." 

FIGURE  18.     A  reconstruction  of  the  Neanderthal  Type  of  Skull. 

of  an  extended  continental  mass  of  remote  time,  gave  up 
a  relic  of  the  nearest  to  an  intermediate  form  in  the 
series  of  human  descent  yet  discovered.  Here  in  the 
center  of  the  island,  Dr.  Dubois  found  buried  in  pleisto- 
cene beds  to  the  depth  of  about  forty  feet  below  the 
surface,  the  upper  portion  of  a  skull,  a  tooth,  and  a 
thigh  bone.23  It  was  fortunate  that  these  most  distinc- 
tive portions  of  the  human  frame  should  have  been  thus 

22Keane,  op.  cit.,  p.   146;   and  Lucas,  F.  A. — "The  Antiquity  of  Man," 
Century,  vol.  60,  pp.  933-934. 
23  Keane,  op.  cit.  p.   144. 


62 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


preserved,24  because  from  these  specimens  we  are  able 
to  reconstruct  the  being  and  to  say  with  assurance  that 
his  walk  was  erect  in  man-like  posture,  that  he  had 
mental  power  considerably  above  the  ape,  and  that  his 


From  Forrer,  "  Urgescliichte  des  Europaers." 

FIGURE  19.     The   Cranium  of  the  Pithecanthropus   Erectus  with  Tooth 
and  Thigh  bone. 

powers  of  articulate  speech  were  somewhat  limited.23 
This  man  stood  halfway  between  the  anthropoid  and  the 
most  primitive  of  existing  men.  Years  before,  the  Ger- 
man naturalist  Haeckel,  had  applied  the  name  Pithecan- 
thropus, the  ape-man,  to  a  hypothetical  form  which  would 


24  See   figure    19. 


-5  Lull,  op.  cit.,  p.  378. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN      65 

walk  erect,  have  a  higher  intellectual  development  than 
the  man-like  apes,  but  which  would  not  yet  possess 
articulate  speech.  The  Javan  form  seemed  to  fulfil 
Haeckel's  conception  and  has  come  to  be  known  as  the 
Pithecanthropus  Erectus.  The  figures  show  the  Pithe- 


JZ.  MOUSTCRIAN    TYPE   OF    SKULL.       V.  SKULL   OF    AN  AUSTRALIAN 


FIGURE  21.     Comparison  of  Crania. 

canthropus  skull  with  its  low  arch.  We  can  now  com- 
pare the  Pithecanthropus,  Neanderthal,  and  Mousterian 
crania  with  the  skull  of  an  ape  and  a  man.  Figure  21 
shows  this  comparison  and  illustrates  how  these  dis- 
coveries have  partially  filled  the  gaps  in  the  descent  of 
man. 

In  1907  a  human  jaw  of  great  antiquity  was  discovered 
in  the  sands  of  the  Mauer  River  near  Heidelberg.  This 
jaw  lay  in  undisturbed  stratified  sand  at  the  depth  of 
about  sixty-nine  feet  from  the  summit  of  the  deposit.20 
It  is  very  different  from  that  of  the  modern  man,  .being 
wide,  low,  massive,  and  devoid  of  a  chin,  features  in 

26  See  figure  22. 


66 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


which  it  resembles  the  jaw  of  an  ape.27  Yet  the  teeth  are 
typically  human  in  arrangement  and  character,  rela- 
tively small  when  contrasted  with  the  massive  support- 


FIGURE  22.     Sand-pit  at  Maure,  near  Heidelberg,  where  the  Pre- 
historic Jaw  was  found. 

ing  bone,  but  actually  large  when  contrasted  with  the 
modern  man.  The  features  are  so  distinctive  that  the 
discoverer,  Dr.  Schoetensack,  considers  the  specimen  as 
representing  a  distinct  species  of  man.  Lull  finds  in 
this  important  specimen  an  admirable  illustration  of  the 

27  See  figure  23. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN      67 

law  of  Haeckel  wherein  the  life  cycle  of  the  individual 
is  shown  to  recapitulate  in  vastly  briefer  form  the  evo- 
lutionary history  of  the  race.  This  is  borne  out  by  the 
fact  that  the  teeth  of  the  Heidelberg  man  are  in  their 
stage  of  development  comparable  to  those  of  a  youth  of 


HEIDELBERG   MAN  CHIMPANZEE  MODERN    MAN 

FIGURE  23.     Comparison  of  Jaw  of  Modern  Man  with  Jaw  of  Heidelberg 
Man  and  Chimpanzee. 

fourteen  years  or  less,  while  their  degree  of  wear  indi- 
cates a  fully  attained  manhood.  Thus  the  Heidelberg 
man,  a  full  adult  for  his  time  and  generation,  typifies 
none  the  less  the  youth  of  humanity.28 

During  the  year  1912  a  series  of  fragments  of  a  human 
skull  and  a  jaw  bone  were  found  associated  with  eolithic 
implements  and  the  bones  of  extinct  mammals  in  pleisto- 
cene deposits  on  a  plateau  80  feet  above  the  river  bed  at 
Piltdown,  Fletching,  Sussex,  England.  This  discovery 
was  made  by  Mr.  Charles  Dawson,  and  Dr.  A.  S.  Wood- 
ward. The  remains  were  of  great  importance  because 
while  the  cranium  was  typically  human  its  cubical  capac- 
ity was  relatively  small,  about  four-fifths  that  of  the 
average  European  skull  and  twice  that  of  the  highest  ape. 
The  jaw  was  similar  to  the  Heidelberg  jaw  although  some- 
what less  massive,  but  the  chin  was  even  more  negative 
than  the  Heidelberg  chin.  The  discoverers  regard  this 
relic  as  a  specimen  of  a  distinct  genus  of  the  human 

28  Lull,  op.  cit.,  p.  380. 


68 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


From  "L'Anthropologic." 


FIGURE  24.     Eolithic  Implements. 

species  and  it  has  been  called  the  Eoanthropus  dawsoni. 
This  extinct  man  lived  in  Europe  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  years  ago.28a 

Other  skulls  and  bone  parts  of  prehistoric  man  have 
been  found  and  are  preserved  in  museums,  but  the  speci- 
mens described  are  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  type  of 
evidence  they  constitute.  The  available  materials  for  the 
study  of  prehistoric  man  besides  his  own  remains  are  his 

28-a  See  Science,  Jan.  17,  1913,  and  Pop.  Set.  Mo.,  Feb.  1913,  vol.  Ixxxii,  No. 
2,  pp.  206-207. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN      71 

implements  and  his  monuments  or  works  of  art.  But  we 
must  remember  that  the  earliest  men  left  no  archeo- 
logical  remains;  indeed,  "They  had  not  advanced  be- 
yond the  use  of  sticks  and  unchipped  stones.  ...  If  no 
paleolithic  remains  earlier  than  the  late  quaternary 
period  are  found,  it  does  not  follow  that  man  did  not 
exist  until  the  late  quaternary.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
certain  that,  if  flints  were  then  chipped  by  men,  earlier 
men  had  lived,  who  had  not  thought  of  chipping  flints." 29 
The  implements  form  a  valuable  part  of  our  evidence 
because  they  are  most  numerous  and  widespread  and 
occur  under  conditions  which  afford  the  best  proof  of 
their  antiquity.  When  we  find  chipped  stone  imple- 
ments buried  beneath  the  drift  and  undisturbed  boulder 
clay  which  some  glacier  gouged  out  of  the  valley  wall 
and  piled  up  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  ago,  we 
must  regard  the  age  of  the  glacial  deposit  as  a  measure 
of  the  age  of  the  stone  implements.  Or,  if  an  excava- 
tion in  the  floor  of  some  ancient  cave  uncovers  humanly 
fashioned  stone  tools  under  a  thick  stalagmite  formation, 
we  can  only  regard  the  undisturbed  position  of  the  im- 
plements as  an  indication  of  extreme  age.  Many  primi- 
tive peoples  to-day  live  upon  shell-fish  and  leave  the  dis- 
carded shells  near  their  dwellings.  As  time  goes  on  the 
pile  of  shells  accumulates.  We  call  such  heaps  of  shells, 
"Kitchen-Middens."  If  now  we  find  under  such 
kitchen-middens  among  the  shells,  rude  unpolished  spear 
heads,  these  implements  must  be  at  least  as  old  as  the 
accumulation.  In  Tierra  del  Fuego  (Elizabeth  Island), 
there  are  kitchen-middens  upon  old  beaches  raised  to 
considerable  heights  above  the  present  sea-level,  so  an- 
cient that  the  shells  of  which  they  are  composed  are  ex- 

29  Giddings,  op.  cit.,  p.  211. 


72 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


tinct,  or  no  longer  the  same  as  those  in  the  surrounding 
waters.30  But  while  the  position  in  or  under  the  drift 
which  some  glacier  or  glacial  river  has  transported  and 
finally  deposited  in  ever  accumulating  layers  constitutes 


FIGURE  26.     Diagram  of  Cro-Magnon  Grotto,  where  Remains  of  Pre- 
historic Men  were  found. 

quite  conclusive  evidence,  the  position  under  stalagmite 
beds  and  kitchen-middens  does  not  furnish  as  reliable 
proof  of  antiquity.  The  growth  of  stalagmite  beds  is 
irregular  and  depends  upon  conditions  which  are  sub- 
ject to  some  variation.  In  the  case  of  the  kitchen-mid- 
den, some  shells  are  accumulated  with  great  rapidity 
so  that  in  a  comparatively  short  time  a  considerable  pile 

soReane,  op.  cit.,  pp.  76-77,  96. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN      73 

is  made.     With  these  warnings  in  mind  we  may  proceed 
to  the  study  of  prehistoric  man's  tools. 


From  Forrer.  "  Urgcschichtc  dos  KuropaCTs," 

FIGURE  27.     Stone  Implements  of  the  early  Paleolithic  Period, 
Stre"pyan  and  Chellean. 

Mr.  Marett  tells  of  a  cave  in  Jersey,  near  the  bay  of 
St.  Brelade,  where  anthropologists  dug  down  through 
some  twenty  feet  of  clay  and  rock  rubbish,  probably  car- 
ried there  in  the  course  of  the  last  ice  age  by  some  glacial 
torrent,  and  discovered  a  prehistoric  hearth  with  the 
large  stones  that  had  propped  up  the  fire,  and  even  some 
ashes.  Bones  were  found  in  a  heap  of  food-refuse, 


74 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


which  when  examined  proved  to  be  the  remains  of  the 
woolly  rhinoceros,  the  reindeer,  of  two  kinds  of  horses, 
of  a  wild  ox,  and  of  a  deer.  Thirteen  human  teeth  were 
found  in  the  food-heap.  But  Mr.  Marett  was  unable  to 
tell  whether  man  or  beast  did  the  eating.  These  teeth 


From  Forrer,  "  Urgeschichte  des  Eurupaers." 

FIGUBE  28.     Flint  Implements  of  the  Chellean  Epoch. 

were  large,  the  kind  that  would  go  with  an  immensely 
powerful  jaw,  needing  a  massive  brow-ridge  to  counter- 
act the  strain  of  the  bite — in  general  the  Neanderthal 
type,  large  brained  perhaps,  yet  quite  ape-like.  The 
diners  had  also  left  their  knives  about, — flint  implements 
chipped  only  on  one  side.31 

The  chipped  flint  implements  of  prehistoric  man  differ 
in  such  a  way  that  we  are  able  to  recognize  several  stages 

si  Marett,  R.   R. — Anthropology,   in   The  Home   University  Library,  H. 
Holt  &  Co.,  1912,  p.  37. 


75 

in  their  development  and  even  to  assign  the  approxi- 
mate years  during  which  each  was  in  vogue.     The  rough 


Prom  Birkner,  "  Dcr  Diluviale  Mensch  in  Europa." 

FIGURE  29.     Flint  Implements  of  the  Acheulian  Epoch. 

stone  age  and  the  polished  stone  age  are  the  popular 
terms  for  the  stages  showing  the  most  striking  differences 
in  appearance  and  workmanship.  In  figure  14  the 
most  recent  geologic  epoch,  the  Quaternary,  is  divided 
into  the  lower,  middle,  and  upper  Quaternary,  covering 
a  period  of  some  750,000  years.  It  will  be  noticed  that 


76  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

in  the  fourth  and  fifth  columns  of  the  diagram  there  is 
a  somewhat  corresponding  division,  only  under  the  more 
scientific  name  of  the  Eolithic  period,  the  Lower  Pale- 
olithic period,  the  Upper  Paleolithic  period,  and  the 
Neolithic  period.  Keane  associates  the  Paleolithic,  or 
rough  stone  age,  with  the  glacial  period  in  Europe,  and 
the  Neolithic,  or  polished  stone  age,  with  the  period  since 
the  ice  ages.32 

The  Upper  and  Lower  Paleolithic  periods  are  different 
in  that  the  lower  period  is  characterized  by  the  evolution 
of  the  almond-shaped  (amygdaloid)  implement  which  is 
unknown  in  the  Eolithic  period  and  rare  in  the  Upper 
Paleolithic  period.  This  is  the  typical  river  drift  im- 
plement. The  eolithic  implements  differ  from  the  lower 
paleoliths  in  that  they  are  extremely  rough,  so  primitive 
indeed  that  some  archeologists  have  hesitated  to  rec- 
ognize them  as  the  work  of  man.  They  are  natural 
flakes,  chips,  or  nodules  of  flint  that  bear  traces  of  utiliza- 
tion and  of  having  been  fitted  to  the  hand.33 

Returning  to  the  Lower  Paleolithic  period  of  our  dia- 
gram, we  find  that  there  are  four  well  defined  epochs  based 
on  both  stratigraphy  and  the  evolution  of  the  almond- 
shaped  implement.  These  are  the  Strepyan,  Chellean, 
and  the  lower  and  upper  Acheulian.34  The  fact  that  arch- 
eologists and  anthropologists  have  found  it  necessary 
to  distinguish  between  different  types  of  implements 
shows  how  there  was  a  gradual  evolution  of  this  very 
low  and  rudimentary  culture  to  higher  and  higher  stages. 
Each  of  these  different  periods  extended  over  thousands 
of  years.  In  the  Chellean  epoch,  the  almond-shaped  im- 

32  Keane,  op.  cit.,  pp.  54-55. 

as  See  figure  24. 

s*  See  figures  27,  28  and  29. 


FIGURE  30,     A  Man  of  the  Stone  Age. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN      79 

plement  is  well  defined  although  the  scars  left  by  chip- 
ping the  two  faces  are  still  large  and  somewhat  irregular. 
It  is  the  regularity  and  the  fineness  of  the  chipping  which 


From  Birkner,  "Der  Diluviale  Mensch  in  Europa." 


FIGURE  31.     Flint  Implements  of  the  Mousterian  Epoch. 

distinguishes  the  Acheulian  from  the  Chellean.  Indeed, 
it  is  so  skilfully  done  as  virtually  to  eliminate  the  zig- 
zag nature  of  the  edge  formed  by  the  meeting  of  the  two 
chipped  faces.35  The  men  of  the  old  river  drift  must 
have  had  strong  arms  and  skilful  fingers,  for  it  must  have 

as  MacCurdy,  G.  G. — "The  Caveman  as  Artist,"  Century,  July,  1912,  vol. 
Ixxxiv.,  p.  440. 


From  Birkner,  "  Dcr  Diluviale  Mcnsch  in  Europa." 


FIGURE  32,     Flint  Implements  of  the  Aurignacian  Epoch. 


From  Birkncr,  "  Der  Diluvialc  Mensch  in  Europa." 


FIGURE  33.     Implements  of  the  Solutrean  Epoch. 


82  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

been  difficult  to  chip  a  flint  pebble  along  both  faces  till 
it  took  on  a  more  or  less  symmetrical  shape. 

The  Upper  Paleolithic  period  is  marked  off  partially 
by  the  fact  that  the  flint  implements  are  chipped  on  one 
side  only.  Furthermore,  there  is  the  gradual  introduc- 
tion of  bone  in  the  making  of  implements  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  first  beginnings  of  art.  The  men  of  this 
period  lived  in  caves  and  along  the  valley  bottoms,  for 
we  find  the  remains  of  prehistoric  man  in  the  valley 
deposits  and  in  caverns  and  rock-shelters.  Four  epochs 
are  recognized,  Mousterian,  Aurignacian,  Solutrean,  and 
Magdalenian.36  The  Neanderthal  man,  short,  powerful, 
and  active,  developed  the  industry  of  the  Aurignacian 
epoch  in  the  direction  of  improved  flint  implements  and 
even  attempted  some  engraving,  sculpture,  and  paint- 
ing.37 The  Solutrean  stone  industry  was  highly  devel- 
oped and  exemplified  much  skill  in  the  art  of  chipping. 
The  arrow  point  was  shaped  like  a  willow  leaf  with  an 
improvement  over  some  earlier  forms  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  lateral  notch  at  the  base.38  This  art  of  stone 
chipping  perfected  in  the  Solutrean,  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  as  important  in  the  Magdalenian  epoch.39  The 
industrial  life  of  this  epoch  is  characterized  by  the  use 
of  bone,  ivory,  and  reindeer  horn  in  the  making  of  barbed 
harpoons  and  spears.  These  bone  implements  are  often 
engraved  and  carved  to  represent  animals  of  prey.40  This 
somewhat  rude  art  reached  a  high  state  of  development 
in  the  Magdalenian  epoch. 

In  addition  to  these  remains  of  the  cave  man  we  have 
others  even  more  interesting:  remains  which  go  far  to 
tell  us  of  his  trained  powers  of  observation  and  skill  of 

so  See  figure  31.  38  See  figure  33.  40  See  figure  35, 

37  See  figure  32.  39  See  figure  34. 


83 


eye  and  hand.  The  cavern  must  have  been  more  than  a 
place  of  safety  from  wild  beasts  and  a  shelter  from 
storms,  it  must  have  been  a  place  in  which  sedentary 
habits  developed  the  first  glimmerings  of  esthetic  ideas, 
for  we  find  upon  the  walls  of  these  caves  simple  draw- 


From  Birkner,  "  Der  Diluvialo  Mcnsch  in  Europa." 

FIGURE  34.     Stone  Implements  of  the  Magdalenian  Epoch. 

ings  and  elaborate  color  paintings  of  the  rhinoceros, 
bison,  and  reindeer.  Perhaps  these  pictures  -had  reli- 
gious significance.  We  do  not  know.  Symbolic  signif- 
icance of  some  sort  they  undoubtedly  did  possess.  At 
any  event  their  artists  passed  away  as  did  their  tradi- 
tions ages  before  the  civilizations  of  Babylon  or  Egypt 
began. 

The  map  in  figure  37  shows  the  location  of  prehistoric 


84  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

caves  in  France,  all  of  which  are  ornamented  with  paint- 
ings and  drawings.  Cavern  painting  passed  through 
four  stages.  In  the  first  stage  the  drawings  were  simply 
outlines  done  with  a  black  or  red  crayon.  In  the  second 
stage  the  first  attempts  at  modeling  by  shading  appear. 
These  drawings  are  usually  monochromatic  silhouettes 
in  black.  The  third  phase  of  development  shows  an  ex- 
cessive use  of  color  which  weakens  the  effect  of  the 
modeling.  Paleolithic  painting  reaches  its  zenith  in  the 
fourth  stage  when  several  warm  colors  are  introduced 
to  give  realism  and  vigor  to  the  picture.  Although  the 
surface  upon  which  the  painting  is  made  is  usually 
scraped  and  washed,  spots  are  sometimes  chosen  which 
give  the  figures  the  appearance  of  a  bas-relief.  The 
colors  used  are  brown,  red,  black,  yellow  and  white.41 
The  bison  in  figure  40  is  done  in  warm  sepia  with  bright 
burnt  sienna  running  into  the  sepia  and  becoming  darker. 
The  art  is  generally  remarkably  realistic  and  the  ani- 
mals are  often  represented  as  in  active  motion.42 

This  cave  art  is  the  most  striking  achievement  of 
paleolithic  man.  It  suffered  eclipse,  however,  with  the 
passing  of  the  fashion  of  cavern  life ;  men  began  to  devote 
their  energies  to  other  activities.  One  should  keep  in 
mind  that  the  period  of  the  cave  men  was  in  general  a 
period  in  which  the  climate  of  Europe  was  extremely 
cold.  Large  sections  of  the  northern  part  of  the  conti- 
nent were  under  ice,  and  from  the  highlands  of  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  continent  glaciers  extended  down  into 
the  valleys,  giving  rise  to  glacial  streams.  It  was  the 
age  of  the  mammoth,  reindeer,  elk,  hyena,  of  the  wild 
horse,  the  chamois,  and  the  goat.  Men  and  animals  must 
have  been  driven  southward  to  a  warmer  zone  by  the 

4i  See  figures  38  and  39.  42  See  diagram  in  figure  41. 


From  Birkner,  "  Der  Di'nviiil.-  Monsrh  in  Eiiropn." 

FIGURK  35.     Bone  Harpoons  and  Engravings  on  Bono  of  the  Magdalcnian 

Epoch. 


86 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


From  Porrer,  "  Urgeschichte  des  Europa 


FIGURE  36.     Aboriginal  Man  of  the  Mousterian  Epoch.      (Designed 
by  Dr.  R.  Forrer  and  Leo  Schnug). 

climatic  changes  and  the  advancing  ice  sheet.  With 
the  tempering  of  the  climate  the  ice  sheet  melted  back, 
In  its  wake,  men  and  animals  again  pressed  north.  It 
required  centuries  for  these  changes  and  the  memory  and 
tradition  of  a  northern  habitation  must  have  perished 
from  the  minds  of  these  primitive  folk.  In  the  inter- 
vening centuries  the  old  cave  dwellings  were  partially 
submerged  by  glacial  drift  so  that  when  the  peoples 
moved  north  again  and  the  old  caverns  were  rediscov- 
ered, the  remains  of  former  habitation  were  buried  deep 
below  the  accumulated  drift.  In  this  way  by  a  succes- 


87 

sion  of  migrations  corresponding  to  climatic  changes, 
remains  of  human  habitations  accumulated  at  different 
levels  in  the  floor  sands  of  these  ancient  caverns.  We 
find  at  different  levels  implements,  representing  by  the 


After  Cartailhac  and  Breuil. 


FIGURE  37.     Map  showing  the  Location  of  Prehistoric  Caves,  all 
of  them  ornamented  by  Paintings  and  Drawings. 

grade  of  their  workmanship,  various  cultural  stages  of- 
ten corresponding  to  stratigraphical  sequence. 

In  some  sections  of  the  continent  there  is  a  break  in 
the  continuity  of  cultural  development  from  the  upper 
paleolithic  or  rough  stone  age  to  the  neolithic  or  pol- 
ished stone  age.  Keane  says  that  the  elements  of  their 
respective  cultures  differ  so  widely  as  almost  to  suggest 
some  violent  dislocation  or  sudden  cataclysm.43  The 
consequence  is  a  prevailing  impression  that  there  was 
an  abrupt  transition  from  the  rude  culture  of  the  rough 
stone  men  to  the  more  developed  culture  of  the  polished 
stone  men.  Notably  in  Britain  there  seems  to  have  been 

43  Keane,  op.  cit.,  p.  110. 


88 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


a  complete  gap  between  the  river-drift  culture  and  tlie 
neolithic  culture.  Future  discoveries  may  show  that  the 
transition  from  the  rough  stone  age  was  not  as  abrupt 
as  was  first  supposed.  At  any  rate,  with  the  glacial  evi- 
dence at  hand,  we  are  quite  justified  in  the  theory  that 
out  of  the  intensified  struggle  for  existence  consequent 
upon  the  overcrowding  of  peoples  in  the  somewhat  lim- 


Aftcr  Capitan  and  Brcuil. 

FIGURE  38.     Red  Drawing  of  a  Rhinoceros,  from  Font-de-Gaume. 

ited  territory  south  of  the  ice  front,  only  the  most  dura- 
ble cultural  elements  in  connection  with  higher  mental 
types  of  men  survived.  Isolation  never  develops  the 
finer  sensibilities  and  qualities  which  come  with  the 
mingling  of  peoples.  Sparse  and  widely  separated 
groups  of  men  such  as  must  have  existed  during  the 
inter-glacial  ages  of  the  Paleolithic  period,  lacked  the 
conditions  for  the  development  of  high  culture.  When 
the  cold  increased  and  the  ice  once  again  pushed  south- 
ward, these  primitive  men  were  exterminated  or  else 
slowly  migrated  to  more  temperate  climates.  Here  the 
peoples  were  more  in  touch  with  one  another  and  popu- 
lation was  relatively  dense.  Under  these  conditions  the 
struggle  for  food  and  space  was  more  acute.  The  dull 


From  reproduction  l.y  Abbe  Breuil  of  the  original  wall  painting  in  colors. 

FIGURE  39.     A  Charging  Boar  (see  upper  right-hand  figure  in  diagram. 


From  a  reproduction  by  the  Abbe  Breuil  of  the  original  drawing  in  colors. 

FIGURE  40.  A  Bison  at  bay  (see  figure  second  row  at  extreme  right  of 
diagram).  Done  in  warm  sepia  with  bright  burnt  sienna  running  into 
sepia  and  becoming  darker. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN        91 


After  Cartailhac  and  Breuil. 


FIGURE  41.     Diagram  of  Frescoes  on  the  Ceiling  of  the  Cavern  of  Altamira. 

and  slow  were  at  a  disadvantage  with  the  clever  and  the 
quick.  Docility  of  disposition,  a  readiness  to  take  up 
new  methods  of  food  getting  and  better  appreciation  of 
the  value  of  persistent  activity  along  peaceful  rather 
than  warlike  lines  must  have  counted  for  much.  The 
wholesale  weeding  out  of  the  less  vigorous  physically, 
of  the  sluggish  intellectually,  and  in  general  of  those 
least  adapted  to  the  conditions  which  made  for  progress, 
meant  the  survival  and  perpetuation  of  better  racial  stock. 
But  the  process  of  selection  operated  to  favor  certain 
lasting  cultural  elements  as  well  as  to  exterminate  ten- 
dencies in  unprogressive  directions.  The  total  conse- 
quence was  that  from  this  seething  riot  of  new  experi- 
ences and  the  constant  testing  of  diverse  physical,  in- 
tellectual, and  cultural  elements,  there  emerged  a  new 
and  higher  culture, — the  neolithic. 

The  neolithic  men  had  learned  the  lesson  of  patience ; 
they  had  domesticated  the  horse,  ox,  pig,  sheep,  goat  and 
dog.  The  men  of  the  rough  stone  ages  had  failed  to 


94 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


make  this  very  important  step  in  progress.  Fire  was 
generally  known  and  could  be  artificially  kindled.  The 
food  which  had  been  mainly  uncooked  vegetable  and  the 
raw  flesh  of  fish  and  animal  in  the  paleolithic  culture, 
was  in  this  new  period  largely  cooked  and  obtained  by 


From  Forrer,  "  Urgeschichte  des  Europaers." 

FIGURE  43.     Neolithic  Pottery. 

stock  breeding  and  tillage  as  well  as  by  fishing  and  the 
chase.  This  was  a  most  important  gain,  for  it  meant 
a  larger  and  more  certain  food  supply.  And  the  food 
supply  is  always  a  serious  problem  among  primitive 
peoples.  The  men  of  the  polished  stone  age  made  im- 
plements of  diverse  type,  not  rough  and  irregular  like 
their  predecessors,  but  ground  smooth  and  shapely.44 
They  were  also  skilled  in  spinning  and  weaving  and  had 
considerable  success  in  making  pottery.45  All  these  arts 
were  foreign  to  the  men  of  the  rough  stone  ages.  Neo- 
lithic men  left  imposing  monuments  in  the  form  of  gi- 
gantic upright  stones  reminiscent  of  early  religious  rites 

44  See  figure  42.  45  See  figure  43. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN       97 

and  ceremonies  so  ancient  that  even  the  traditions  of 
their  worship  have  been  forgotten.46     In  many  parts  of 


From  D&helette.   "  Manuel  D1  ArcheVlugie  Pr^Uistorique." 

FIGURE  45.     Neolithic  Monuments,  a  "Menir." 

Britain  they  are  called  "Druid's  Altars"  and  are  popu- 
larly associated  with  Druidical  rites.47  Besides  the 
monolithic  type  there  is  the  polylithic  or  cell  type  of 
monument  associated  with  burial  and  ancestor-worship, 

*8  See  figures  44  and  45.  *7  Keane,  op.  cit.,  p.   125, 


98  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

The  tomb  is  composed  of  several  megaliths — one  for  the 
floor,  others  upright  or  on  edge,  supporting  a  horizontal 
slab  which  covers  the  whole  space  enclosed.48  Some  of 
these  sepulchral  chambers  are  covered  with  great  piles 


From  Dfchrlette.   "Manuel  D'Archer.logie  Prchistorique." 

FIGURE   46.     Neolithic   Monuments,   a   "Dolmen." 

of  stones  or  earth.  These  monuments  are  known  as  bar- 
rows. This  was  the  period  when  the  Swiss  lake  dwell- 
ings were  constructed.49  The  prehistoric  monuments  of 
the  New  World  are  more  imposing  than  these  barrows 
of  the  Old  World.50  The  ruins  of  palaces,  temples,  and 
aqueducts  of  the  ancient  Peruvians  and  the  similar  colos- 
sal constructions  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Bolivia 
and  Mexico,  surpass  most  of  the  other  monumental  re- 
mains of  prehistoric  man.  But  the  men  of  the  neolithic 


figure  46. 

*9  Keane,  op.  tit.,  p.  121,  Lubbock,  Pre-Historic  Times,  ch.  vi. 
so  gee  figure  47. 


THE  OBIGIN  AND  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN      101 

period  could  do  more  than  build  stone  monuments  and 
fashion  polished  stone  implements;  they  understood 
something  of  rude  mining  processes,  for  they  left  articles 
of  bronze  and  iron.51  The  existence  of  ornaments,  arms 
and  cutting  implements  of  all  kinds,  such  as  axes,  knives 
and  the  handles  of  swords  dating  back  to  the  neolithic 
period,  has  led  Lubbock  to  divide  the  prehistoric  period 
into  four  epochs:  the  Drift  Age  (rough  stone  age),  the 
Polished  Stone  Age,  the  Bronze  Age,  and  the  Iron  Age. 
In  the  course  of  the  discussion  in  this  chapter  we  have 
attempted  to  present  some  of  the  most  authentic  and  im- 
portant evidence  which  scientists  have  gathered  to  ex- 
plain the  origin  and  the  great  antiquity  of  man.  In  the 
chapters  immediately  following  we  must  concern  our- 
selves with  the  even  more  difficult  problem  of  accounting 
for  man's  remarkable  mental  development  which  sur- 
passes that  of  any  other  living  creature.  This  really 
brings  us  to  the  study  of  Social  Evolution,  for  modern 
students  of  mankind  have  come  to  believe  more  and  more 
completely  in  the  importance  of  the  social  factor  in  the 
evolution  of  higher  animal  types. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READINGS. 
BRINTON,  D.  G. — Races  and  Peoples. 
DARWIN,  C. — The  Descent  of  Man. 
DENIKER,    J. — The   Races   of  Man. 
GEIKIE,  J. — The  Great  Ice  Age. 
GIDDINGS,  F.  H. — The  Principles  of  Sociology. 
KEANE,  A.  H. — Ethnology. 

LUBBOCK,  J.  (Lord  Avebury) — Pre-Historic  Times. 
MARETT,  R.  R. — Anthropology  (Home  University  Scries). 
METCALF,  M.  M. — Organic  Evolution. 
ROMANES,  G.  J.— Darwin  and  After  Darwin,  I  The  Darwinian 

Theory. 
TYLOR,  E.  B. — Anthropology. 

si  See  figure  42. 


IV 
ASSOCIATION 

THE  origin  of  the  mental  faculties  and  moral  nature 
of  mankind  is  to  be  explained  by  the  socializing  influ- 
ences of  group  life.  In  the  preceding  chapters  we  have 
examined  the  doctrine  of  descent  to  determine  whether 
man's  physical  form  was  related  to  other  species  of 
animal  life.  We  saw  that  there  was  no  scientific  reason 
for  separating  man  from  the  rest  of  the  animal  kingdom 
as  regards  the  processes  of  evolution.  There  is  no  rea- 
son to  doubt  the  continuity  of  animal  and  human  society.1 
From  the  strictly  sociological  point  of  view,  the  student 
of  social  evolution  accepts  the  conclusions  of  biology  and 
geology  and  begins  his  investigation  with  the  inquiry  as 
to  whether  the  earliest  men  were  isolated  pairs,  de- 
scended perhaps  from  a  single  pair,  or  whether  the 
transition  from  the  animal  to  the  human  state  was  made 
by  entire  social  groups.  Professor  Giddings  holds  that 
there  is  no  evidence  whatsoever  for  the  theory  of  numer- 
ous isolated  pairs.  Indeed,  there  is  much  evidence  to 
the  contrary  which  leads  us  to  believe  that  the  transition 
from  the  animal  to  the  human  state  was  made  under  the 
socializing  influences  of  group  life.2 

Throughout  the  ages  before  man  was  differentiated, 
certain  animals  lived  in  groups  and  were  becoming  ac- 
customed to  the  advantages  afforded  by  association. 

i  Giddings,  F.  H. — The  Principles  of  Sociology,  p.  208.  2  Hid. 

102 


ASSOCIATION  103 

Life  in  societies  is  the  most  powerful  .weapon  in  the 
struggle  for  life.  Horses,  although  badly  organized  on 
the  whole  for  resisting  their  enemies  and  the  adverse 
conditions  of  climate,  would  soon  have  been  exterminated 
were  it  not  for  their  sociable  spirit.  The  wolf  and  the 
bear  cannot  capture  a  horse  unless  the  animal  becomes 
detached  from  the  herd.  If  a  beast  of  prey  approaches, 
several  studs  unite  at  once  and  repulse  the  beast,  some- 
times even  chasing  it.  When  a  snowstorm  rages,  studs 
crowd  together  and  the  warmth  of  their  several  bodies 
keeps  them  from  freezing.  If  the  group  disperses,  the 
horses  perish  and  the  survivors  are  found  after  the 
storm  half  dying  from  fatigue.3  The  common  ant  thrives 
without  having  any  of  the  protective  features  which  ani- 
mals living  in  isolated  life  possess.  Its  color  renders  it 
conspicuous  and  its  sting  is  not  formidable.  Yet  ants  are 
dreaded  by  most  stronger  insects.  Their  most  important 
source  of  strength  consists  in  the  maintenance  of  a  highly 
cooperative  group  life.  The  animals  which  know  best 
how  to  combine  have  the  greatest  chances  for  further 
evolution  even  though  they  may  be  inferior  to  others  in 
each  of  the  faculties  enumerated  by  Darwin  and  Wallace, 
save  in  the  intellectual  faculty.4  This  last  is  generally 
admitted  to  be  the  most  powerful  aid  in  the  struggle  for 
existence.  But  the  intellectual  faculty  is  eminently  a 
social  faculty.  "Language,  imitation,  and  accumulated 
experience  are  so  many  elements  of  growing  intelligence 
of  which  the  unsociable  animal  is  deprived."  For  this 
reason  we  find  at  the  top  of  each  class  of  animals,  those 
which  combine  the  greatest  sociability  with  the  highest 
development  of  intelligence.  "The  fittest  are  thus  the 
most  sociable  animals,  and  sociability  appears  as  the  chief 

3  Kropotkin,  P.— Mutual  Aid,  1904,  p.  47.  *  Ibid. 


104  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

factor  of  evolution,  both  directly,  by  securing  the  well- 
being  of  the  species  while  diminishing  the  waste  of  energy, 
and  indirectly,  by  favoring  the  growth  of  intelligence."  5 

Thus  it  was  that  thousands  of  years  before  man  ap- 
peared, association  was  preparing  the  way  for  human 
society.  Association  was  a  chief  cause  of  the  develop- 
ment of  intelligence  and  of  the  power  to  cooperate. 
Moreover,  social  life  developed  with  a  progressive  weed- 
ing out  of  unsocial  creatures  which  thereby  became  a 
more  easy  prey  to  physical  forces  and  living  enemies.6 
Association  not  only  endowed  certain  species  with  the 
mental  capacity  that  was  eventually  to  make  one  of  them 
the  master,  but  it  developed  the  social  instincts  of  all 
the  others  to  such  a  degree  that  they  could  become  useful 
cooperators  with  mankind.  The  teachable  disposition 
acquired  by  certain  animals  from  their  age  long  experi- 
ence of  social  life  made  domestication  a  possibility. 
Later  we  shall  see  that  domesticated  animals  made  possi- 
ble civilization.  In  this  way  the  enormous  importance 
of  domestication  is  apparent. 

The  savage  peoples  of  the  present  day  live  in  groups, 
and  all  the  remains  of  prehistoric  men  show  that  they  too 
lived  in  groups.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the 
anthropoid  precursor  of  man  was  ail  unsocial  animal. 
Indeed,  the  mental  differences  that  mark  men  off  from 
other  creatures  are  those  that  are  created  by  social  dis- 
course. Speech  in  particular,  an  attainment  that  has 
given  man  his  preeminence  among  other  animals,  is  dis- 
tinctly a  social  creation.  Since  association  and  sociabil- 
ity have  been  such  all-important  factors  in  the  mental 
evolution  of  mankind  we  shall  consider  the  advantages 
that  accrue  from  social  life. 

5  Ibid.  e  Giddings,  op.  cit.,  pp.  204-207. 


ASSOCIATION  105 

Association  immediately  affects  selection  and  survival. 
Life  in  groups  affords  protection  from  extremes  of  cli- 
mate and  from  ferocious  animal  enemies.  In  the  snow 
storm,  sheep  press  together  and  keep  warm.  Certain 
animals  move  in  herds  and  flocks,  so  that  in  case  of 
danger  they  are  able  to  stand  off  the  enemy.  The  iso- 
lated animal  unable  to  sustain  bodily  warmth  in  the  face 
of  the  blizzard,  succumbs.  A  fierce  enemy  is  more  sure 
to  exterminate  the  single  individual.  In  this  way  it 
happens  that  sociability  has  a  definite  survival  value,  for 
the  individual  accustomed  to  group  life  is  selected  to 
survive,  while  the  individual  living  an  isolated  existence 
lacks  the  advantage  of  cooperation  and  is  more  often 
destroyed. 

Life  in  societies  insures  a  larger  and  a  more  certain 
food  supply.  Social  animals  hunt  in  packs,  when  their 
combined  strength  is  often  able  to  vanquish  prey  that 
one  of  them  could  not  overcome  singlehanded.  More- 
over, food  secured  by  one  of  the  pack  is  often  shared  with 
the  other  members,  while  an  unsocial  animal  would  be 
driven  from  the  feast. 

But  the  great  effect  of  association  and  group  life  upon 
selection  is  found  in  the  fact  that  through  the  advantages 
of  protection  and  food  supply  gained  by  cooperation  and 
mutual  aid,  the  average  social  animal  has  a  better  chance 
to  reach  maturity  and  have  offspring.  Under  the  safer 
conditions  of  group  life,  more  progeny  can  reach  ma- 
turity than  is  possible  in  the  uncertain  state  of  isolated 
families.  In  a  previous  chapter  we  saw  that  survival 
meant  more  than  continuance  of  mere  individual  life :  it 
meant  the  perpetuation  of  the  race  by  the  rearing  of 
progeny.  Survival  in  this  sense  means  that  certain  ad- 
vantageous characteristics  possessed  by  the  parents,  will 


106  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

not  be  lost  to  the  race  but  will  probably  appear  in  the 
offspring  and  form  the  basis  for  new  gains.  And  so,  in 
the  course  of  the  struggle  for  existence,  those  animals 
that  tended  to  vary  in  the  direction  of  a  sociable  and 
docile  disposition,  would,  other  things  being  equal,  have 
a  better  chance  to  survive  over  their  isolated  competitors, 
and  surviving,  would  tend  to  transmit  to  their  progeny 
by  the  laws  of  heredity  those  same  social  characteristics. 
In  this  way,  traits  must  have  been  constantly  scrutinized 
by  natural  selection  and  the  social  characteristics  picked 
out  and  given  the  stamp  of  approval.  Hence,  long  before 
the  differentiation  of  man,  animals  were  developing  that 
social  nature  which  is  now  the  chief  characteristic  of  the 
human  species.  During  the  ages  that  must  have  elapsed 
in  the  transition  from  anthropoid  to  man  the  process 
of  socialization  continued  to  do  its  work  selecting  the 
sociable  and  excluding  or  exterminating  the  unsocial. 

Association  reacted  powerfully  upon  variation,  for 
social  life  furnished  safety  from  enemies  and  permanence 
of  food  supply,  making  possible  the  birth  and  nurture 
of  a  larger  number  of  offspring,  also  permitting  new 
variations  to  arise  and  to  become  definite  characteristics 
of  the  group.  Under  conditions  of  comparative  security, 
individuals  possessing  variations  in  the  direction  of 
tolerance,  sympathy,  and  compassion,  were  likely  to  be 
favored  with  longer  life  and  more  numerous  progeny 
than  individuals  without  these  traits.  These  refinements 
would  have  hindered  the  single  individual  practising  the 
ruthless  cruelty  demanded  by  the  more  rigorous  condi- 
tions of  a  lonely  state.  In  short,  refined  sensibilities 
constitute  qualities  disadvantageous  in  isolated  individ- 
uals, but  which  under  the  improved  conditions  of  life 
in  societies  favor  survival.  Hence  association,  through 


ASSOCIATION  107 

the  comparative  security  it  afforded,  is  directly  responsi- 
ble for  the  preservation  and  perpetuation  of  such  charac- 
ters as  toleration,  sympathy,  and  compassion, — among 
the  highest  human  qualities.  Besides  the  preservation 
of  individuals  possessing  these  eminently  desirable  qual- 
ities, life  in  societies  assured  the  appearance  of  pro- 
gressive variations  along  the  same  line.  This  was 
secured  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  more  numerous  off- 
spring means  an  increased  chance  for  the  appearance  of 
a  new  germinal  variation.  With  many  progeny  surviv- 
ing, it  is  reasonably  certain  that  some  individuals  will 
have  innate  capacities  superior  to  those  generally  pos- 
sessed by  the  former  generation.  In  this  way,  associa- 
tion tended  to  cumulate  biological  gains. 

In  group  life  the  gain  of  one  member  through  imitation 
became  the  gain  of  the  group.  A  new  way  to  perform 
some  old  function,  greater  dexterity  attained  by  one,  a 
surer  method  for  securing  food,  were  gains  quickly  imi- 
tated by  other  members  of  the  group.  In  this  manner 
all  received  benefit  from  the  discovery  of  one.  Partici- 
pation in  the  common  cause,  sharing  in  the  general  bene- 
fit, operated  to  modify  the  more  plastic  individuals  and 
developed  sympathy  and  toleration.  Imitation  of  those 
who  were  of  a  naturally  sympathetic  and  reasonable  dis- 
position tended  to  repress  excessive  cruelty  and  intoler- 
ance and  gave  that  unity  and  coherence  which  made  co- 
operation both  practicable  and  successful.  In  this  way 
the  social  process  cumulated  gains  and  group  experi- 
ence came  to  be  more  ordered  and  varied. 

Combined  action  in  hunting,  fishing,  and  defense,  ex- 
ercised a  constant  discipline  over  antipathies  and  sym- 
pathies, over  powers  of  discrimination  and  coordination. 
Adaptabilities  were  consciously  trained  by  cooperation. 


108  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

These  modified  activities  reacted  upon  nerve  and  brain. 
''Through  nerve  and  brain  they  reacted  further,  physi- 
ologically and  morphologically,  upon  the  whole  organism. 
By  every  advance  in  association  the  bodily  organism  was 
necessarily  modified  in  some  degree  to  correspond  to  the 
development  of  feeling  and  intelligence." 7  Out  of  disci- 
pline for  antipathies  and  sympathies  new  variations 
arose  and  were  encouraged ;  that  is,  when  they  appeared 
as  specific  traits  in  an  individual,  that  individual  was  not 
crushed  with  disapproval  and  contempt,  but  was  allowed 
to  live  and  so  transmit  these  qualities. 

By  looking  closer  at  the  process  of  association  we  are 
able  to  see  more  clearly  the  course  of  action  through 
which  the  brute  mind  was  gradually  converted  into  the 
human  intellect.  From  what  has  already  been  said  of 
life  in  society  one  may  readily  see  that  in  group  life 
the  relations  of  an  individual  to  his  surroundings  and  to 
his  companions  became  increasingly  complex.  And  yet 
the  simplest  psychophysical  process  that  takes  place  in 
the  nervous  system  is  the  response  of  nervous  matter 
to  an  external  stimulus.8  When  any  sense  organ  is 
stimulated  a  twofold  result  normally  follows:  one  effect 
is  a  sensation,  an  elementary  fact  of  consciousness;  the 
other  effect  is  a  muscular  movement  called  a  reflex.  We 
shall  follow  the  usage  of  Professor  Giddings  and  denote 
by  the  term,  ' l  response  to  stimulus, ' '  both  aspects  of  the 
process.  It  is  this  phenomenon  of  stimulation  and  re- 
sponse that  leads  us  to  the  very  heart  of  the  matter. 

There  are  roughly  two  kinds  of  stimuli.  Original  or 
primary  stimuli  include:  fellow  beings,  the  concrete  ob- 
jects of  nature,  events  of  nature, — in  fact,  most  external 
i  Hid.,  p.  200. 

s  Giddings,  F.  H. — Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology,  1906,  p.  124. 


ASSOCIATION  109 

objects  or  occurrences.  For  example,  if  one  should  at- 
tempt to  descend  from  a  hill  by  a  steep  and  slippery 
path  and  should  slip  and  fall,  the  natural  effort  to  re- 
gain one's  balance  would  illustrate  what  is  meant  by  a 
reflex  action,  and  the  sensation  is  illustrated  by  the  sur- 
prise or  pain  of  the  fall.  Derived  or  secondary  stimuli 
are  ideas  and  emotions,  complex  products  of  response. 
They  are  products  not  only  of  the  activity  of  the  indi- 
vidual nervous  system,  but  also  in  great  measure  of 
activities  of  other  animate  individuals.  In  the  instance 
given,  the  fact  of  losing  one's  balance  would  be  the  pri- 
mary stimulus  which  produced  the  sensation  of  surprise 
and  the  reflex  action  of  attempting  to  regain  balance, 
whereas  if  the  individual  should  again  pass  that  way 
he  would  tend  to  retain  a  distinct  impression  of  the  con- 
sequences of  following  that  steep  path  and  this  would 
lead  him  to  descend  from  the  hill  by  another  path.  Here 
the  unpleasant  idea  of  the  fall  was  a  secondary  or  de- 
rived stimulus  which  caused  a  reaction  in  the  form  of 
going  down  the  hill  by  another  way.  This  process  of 
stimulation  and  response,  relatively  simple  with  the  iso- 
lated individual,  becomes  exceedingly  complicated  in 
social  relations.  Where  individuals  live  in  groups,  fel- 
low beings  become  the  sources  of  primary  stimuli,  and 
even  the  ideas  of  companions,  especially  if  expressed  by 
sign  or  language,  form  an  increasingly  important  source 
of  secondary  stimuli.  "The  ultimate  motive  of  volun- 
tary activity,  both  mental  and  muscular,  is  the  persistent 
desire  of  consciousness  to  be  clear  and  painless,  and,  if 
possible,  pleasurable.  Consciousness  is  intolerant  of 
obscurity,  perplexity,  obstruction,  and  suffering. "  9  It 
therefore  follows  that  consciousness  endeavors  to  attain 

9  Giddings,  op.  cit.,  pp.  125-126, 


110  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

painless  clearness,  or  positive  pleasure,  with  least  dif- 
ficulty. The  line  of  least  effort  is  sought  out.  Activities 
proceed  from  the  known  to  the  unknown,  and  from  the 
tried  to  the  untried.  Consciousness  thus  seeks  to  avoid 
those  stimuli  which  experience  has  found  to  be  followed 
by  painful  sensations. 

In  associated  life,  individuals  stimulate  one  another 
by  acts  and  signs.  In  this  way  the  phenomena  of  inter- 
stimulation  and  response  arise.  But  different  individ- 
uals respond  differently  to  the  same  or  similar  stimuli. 
These  varied  responses  are  unlike  in  kind,  in  degree,  and 
in  completeness.  From  this  unlike-response  spring  the 
innumerable  phenomena  of  antagonism,  conflict,  rivalry, 
and  competition.  But  we  often  observe  that  fellow  be- 
ings are  so  constituted  that  they  respond  in  like  ways 
to  the  same  stimulus.  From  this  like-response  develop 
the  phenomena  of  agreement  and  cooperation.10  Those 
who  respond  similarly  to  an  appeal  to  arms  become  the 
warriors.  Those  who  are  quick  to  seize  upon  new  op- 
portunities become  leaders.  Any  who,  because  of  poor 
digestions  or  epileptic  taint,  dream  dreams  and  fall  into 
fits,  become  the  medicine-men  of  the  tribe  and  its  religious 
leaders.  Thus  the  process  of  interstimulation  and  re- 
sponse throws  together  those  individuals  who  are  most 
alike,  and  sorts  out  for  contempt  or  disapproval  all  who 
vary  too  far  from  the  accustomed  mode  of  response. 
There  is  a  process  of  differentiation,  whereby,  on  the 
basis  of  their  different  responses,  individuals  are 
grouped;  those  who  respond  alike  are  drawn  together, 
are  integrated,  while  those  whose  reaction  varies  greatly 
from  the  average  are  regarded  as  uncongenial,  are  per- 
secuted or  driven  from  the  group.  In  this  way  the  mem- 

10  Ibid.,  p.  128. 


ASSOCIATION  111 

bers  of  any  society  tend  to  become  more  and  more  alike ; 
social  types  are  created  and  extreme  variation  from  the 
approved  type  is  discouraged  or  even  punished.  Thus 
there  evolves  out  of  the  maturing  experience  of  inter- 
stimulation  and  response  a  social  and  often  highly  con- 
scious selection,  which  tends  to  preserve  the  appreciated 
type  and  operates  to  expel  or  exterminate  the  extreme 
variate. 

The  growing  volume  of  stimuli  to  intellectual  develop- 
ment and  the  constantly  increasing  selective  value  of 
mind,  tended  to  bring  internal  adaptations  in  the  form 
of  more  complex  organization  of  the  brain  and  nervous 
system.  "A  slower  development  of  the  individual  and 
a  longer  infancy  necessarily  resulted.  The  prolongation 
of  infancy,  in  its  turn,  must  necessarily  have  effected 
great  changes  in  anatomy  and  physiology.  A  long 
period  of  helplessness,  by  delaying  the  use  of  arms  and 
legs  in  ancestral  ways,  must  have  contributed  to  those 
changes  that  resulted  in  the  upright  position  and  the 
specialized  use  of  the  fore  limbs.  A  relatively  long 
period  of  lactation,  with  inability  to  use  food  requiring 
strength  of  jaw,  must  have  changed  the  facial  angle  and 
the  expression  of  the  countenance/'11 

Mutual  aid  attains  its  highest  development  in  the  ani- 
mal kingdom  among  the  social  apes  and  monkeys.  Co- 
operation must  have  been  further  developed  among  the 
cave  men,  for  we  have  proofs  of  their  successful  warfare 
against  such  imposing  antagonists  as  the  mammoth  and 
the  cave  bear.  But  there  are  forms  of  cooperation 
other  than  united  action  against  enemies.  There  is  co- 
operation in  seeking  amusement  and  diversion.  Play 
tends  to  become  organized  in  games  and  festivities.  In 

11  Giddings,  Principles,  p.  229. 


112  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

play  and  festivity  signs  and  gestures  exercise  an  im- 
portant role.  There  is  the  constant  desire  to  share  with 
one's  fellows  the  excitement  of  certain  novel  sensations, 
the  desire  to  communicate  emotions  of  joy  or  surprise. 
If  we  can  explain  how  the  signs  of  ideas  became  objects 
of  contemplation,  movable  types,  names,  we  can  under- 
stand how  gesture  language  was  converted  into  speech. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  explanations  of  the  origin 
of  articulate  speech  was  advanced  some  years  ago  by 
Dr.  Donovan.  He  says,  "The  origin  of  speech  was  only 
possible  through  the  aid  of  the  psychological  machinery 
which  belonged  to  musical  pleasure."12  The  argument 
runs  that  the  communal  spirit  finds  its  first  and  rudest 
expression  in  bodily  play  excitement.  In  its  earliest  dis- 
covered forms  this  rude  expression  has  become  the  custom 
of  festal  celebration,  the  constant  elements  of  which  are 
bodily  play  movements  in  imitation  of  actions,  rhythmic 
beating,  some  approach  to  song,  and  the  social  interest. 
Professor  Giddings  says,  "The  argument,  therefore,  is 
well  founded,  that  under  the  mental  exaltation  of  such 
occasions,  rather  than  under  less  stimulating  circum- 
stances, attention  would  be  fixed  upon  vocal  sounds  used 
as  signs,  and  the  conclusion  is  warranted  that  it  was  un- 
der the  stimulation  of  social  excitement  that  signs  were 
first  distinguished  in  thought  from  the  things  signified, 
and  so  conventionalized  as  names,  the  movable  types  of 
speech."  13 

The  attainment  of  articulate  speech  made  human  na- 
ture, with  all  its  richness  of  content  and  refinement  of 
feeling.  As  the  consequence  of  group  life  and  experi- 

12  Donovan,  "The  Festal  Origin  of  Human  Speech,"  Mind,  vol.  xvi,  no, 
3,  Oct.,  1891,  p.  499. 

»3  Giddings,  op.  cit.,  p.  225. 


ASSOCIATION  113 

ence,  speech  reacted  upon  association.  It  definitely 
marked  off  primitive  man  from  all  other  species.  It  be- 
came the  distinguishing  character  of  the  Hominidse. 
Men  became  increasingly  aware  of  their  degrees  of  men- 
tal and  practical  resemblance.  Through  the  new  chan- 
nels of  communication  opened  up  by  the  attainment  of 
articulate  speech,  men  became  conscious  of  modes  of 
like-response  which  formed  the  basis  of  resemblances 
and  differences.  This  subjective  phenomenon  consisting 
of  various  degrees  and  modes  of  awareness  on  the  part 
of  resembling  individuals  that  they  are  alike,  is  what  Pro- 
fessor Giddings  calls,  "Consciousness  of  Kind." 14 
There  are  distinct  levels  of  consciousness  of  kind,  all  the 
way  from  the  incipient  form  of  organic  sympathy  among 
animals,  through  the  various  modes  of  perception  of  re- 
semblance, reflective  sympathy,  affection,  and  the  desire 
for  recognition,  to  that  completeness  of  refined  feeling 
and  ripeness  of  experience,— the  human  consciousness  of 
kind. 

The  possession  of  articulate  speech  was  for  primitive 
man  a  boon  beyond  estimation.  Verbal  communication 
gave  unity  to  the  early  group  life  which  was  of  immense 
advantage  in  the  struggle  with  other  species.  Speech 
enabled  the  individual  to  draw  upon  the  experience  of 
the  race  whenever  his  own  resources  seemed  inadequate 
for  an  ordeal.  "A  word  is  a  vehicle,  a  boat  floating  down 
from  the  past,  laden  with  the  thought  of  men  we  never 
saw;  and  in  coming  to  understand  it  we  enter  not  only 
into  the  minds  of  our  contemporaries,  but  into  the  gen- 
eral mind  of  humanity  continuous  through  time." 15 
Language,  as  the  recorded  stream  of  race  experience, 

i*  Giddings,  Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology,  pp.  184,  275. 
IB  Cooley,  C;  H. — Social  Organization,  1912,  p.  69. 


114  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

grows  by  the  contributions  of  many  humble  inventors, 
every  man,  possibly,  altering  the  heritage  in  proportion 
as  he  puts  his  individuality  into  his  speech.  ''Variations 
of  idea  are  preserved  in  words  or  other  symbols,  and  so 
stored  up  in  a  continuing  whole,  constantly  growing  in 
bulk  and  diversity,  which  is,  as  we  have  seen,  nothing  less 
than  the  outside  or  sensible  embodiment  of  human 
thought,  in  which  every  particular  mind  lives  and  grows, 
drawing  from  it  the  material  of  its  own  life,  and  contrib- 
uting to  it  whatever  higher  product  it  may  make  out  of 
that  material."  16  Professor  Cooley  compares  language 
with  the  path  and  compass  which  directs  the  uncertain 
progress  of  the  traveler  in  the  wilderness,  because  in 
language  the  mind  finds  its  experience  foreseen,  mapped 
out  and  interpreted  by  all  the  wisdom  of  the  past.17  The 
supremely  social  phase  of  the  relation  of  the  individual 
to  language,  consists  in  development  of  the  individual 
mind  not  as  a  separate  growth,  but  rather  as  a  differenti- 
ation within  the  general  mind.18 

This  principle  of  natural  selection  which  we  have  used 
to  explain  the  survival  of  certain  individuals  and  the  ex- 
termination of  others,  also  explains,  perhaps,  why  one 
social  group  outlives  another.  In  the  struggle  between 
groups  the  fitter  group  tends  to  survive,  as  in  the  indi- 
vidual struggle  the  individual  best  fitted  to  its  surround- 
ings was  most  likely  to  live.  The  progress  of  the  military 
art  has  been  the  most  conspicuous  thing  in  human  his- 
tory. "The  cause  of  this  military  growth  is  very  plain. 
The  strongest  nation  has  always  been  conquering  the 
weaker;  sometimes  subduing  it,  but  always  prevailing 
over  it.  Every  intellectual  gain,  so  to  speak,  that  a 
nation  possessed  was  in  earliest  times  made  use  of— 

i«  Ibid.  n  Ibid.,  p.  70.  is  Ibid.,  p.  71. 


ASSOCIATION  115 

was  invested  and  taken  out — in  war;  all  else  perished. 
Each  nation  tried  constantly  to  be  the  stronger,  and  so 
made  or  copied  the  best  weapons;  by  conscious  and  un- 
conscious imitation  each  nation  formed  a  type  of  char- 
acter suitable  to  war  and  conquest."  10  Because  of  this 
continual  effort  to  become  more  military  the  art  of  war 
has  constantly  improved. 

If  the  stronger  group,  or  nation  to  take  the  term  that 
Walter  Bagehot  uses,  is  the  one  that  invariably  survives, 
in  what  does  this  superior  strength  consist?  Many 
things  undoubtedly  contribute  to  maintain  the  strength 
of  the  group.  Probably  the  most  important  advantage 
in  group  struggle  is  unity  and  coherence.  Galton  had 
observed  years  ago  that  the  tamest  cattle,  those  that 
seldom  ran  away,  that  kept  the  flock  together,  and  those 
which  led  them  homeward,  would  live  longer  than  the 
irreclaimably  wild  members  of  the  flock.20  This  process 
of  selection  also  operated  to  preserve  the  tamest  groups 
of  primitive  men.  The  tamest  were  those  who  were  uni- 
fied by  bonds  of  custom.  "The  first  thing  to  acquire  is, 
if  I  may  so  express  it,  the  legal  fibre;  a  polity  first — 
what  sort  of  a  polity  is  immaterial;  a  law  first — what 
kind  of  a  law  is  secondary;  a  person  or  set  of  persons 
to  pay  deference  to — though  who  he  is,  or  they  are,  by 
comparison  scarcely  signifies."21  What  made  one 
primitive  group  stronger  than  another  was  a  bond  of 
union.  The  kind  of  bond  mattered  little,  for  the  com- 
pact group  conquered  the  loosely  organized  group.  In 
these  savage  struggles  of  early  peoples  the  slightest  ad- 
vantage must  have  counted  for  much  and  often  turned 

10  Bagehot,  W. — Physics  and  Politics,  2nd.  ed.,  p.  49. 

20  British  Ethnological  Society's  Transactions,  vol.  iii,  p.   137. 

21  Bagehot,  op.  cit.,  p.  50. 


116  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

the  scale  in  favor  of  unity  and  coherence.  Hence 
group  loyalty  and  adherence  were  traits  which  favored 
the  survival  of  those  tribes  which  possessed  them.  The 
efforts  pf  these  peoples  were  therefore  bent  to  the  at- 
tainment of  qualities  upon  which  group  safety  and 
solidarity  seemed  most  obviously  to  depend.  As  cus- 
toms and  usages  were  often  associated  with  past  security 
and  success  it  became  the  function  of  the  group  to  re- 
strain its  younger  members  from  any  act  of  innovation. 
It  is  probable  that  as  primitive  man  began  to  observe 
that  the  blows  of  nature  fell  without  discrimination  upon 
all,  he  began  to  associate  accidental  change  in  the  way  of 
performing  a  customary  act,  with  disaster  to  the  group. 
He  assumed  that  repetition  of  the  innovation  would  be 
followed  by  like  disaster.  Similarly,  it  may  have  hap- 
pened, quite  by  chance,  that  the  transgression  of  a  rule 
of  conduct  was  followed  by  calamity  to  the  group. 
Thereafter  any  transgression  would  be  safely  guarded 
against,  in  the  belief  that  a  like  calamity  would  be  the 
inevitable  consequence.22  There  was  no  "limited  liabil- 
ity" in  their  conception  of  human  relations ;  the  life  of  in- 
dividuals in  society  was  regarded  as  a  partnership  on 
which  a  rash  member  by  a  sudden  impiety  might  bring 
utter  ruin.  They  were  possessed  with  the  notion  that 
ill-luck  does  not  attach  itself  simply  to  the  doer,  but  may 
fall  upon  any  member  of  the  group.23  In  Molembo  a 
pestilence  broke  out  soon  after  a  Portuguese  had  died 
there.  After  that  the  natives  took  all  possible  measures 
not  to  allow  any  white  man  to  die  in  their  country.24  On 

22  Chapin,   F.  S. — Education  and   the   Mores,   Columbia   Univ.  Series  in 
Hist.,  Eco.  and  Pub.  Law,  vol.  xlii,  no.  2,  pp.  27-28. 
28  Bagehot,  op.  cit.,  p.  102. 
2*  Bastian,  A. — Die  Deutsche  Expedition  an  der  Loango-Kilste,  p.  104. 


ASSOCIATION  117 

the  Nicobar  Islands  some  natives  who  had  just  begun  to 
make  pottery  died.  The  art  was  given  up  and  never 
again  attempted.25  A  Yakut  woman  contracted  an 
endogamous  marriage.  She  soon  afterwards  became 
blind.  This  was  thought  to  be  on  account  of  the  violation 
of  ancient  customs.26 

From  the  illustrations  we  have  just  cited  it  is  clear 
that  as  association  increases  the  social  experience  of  the 
primitive  group  and  complex  relations  develop,  a  social 
pressure  begins  to  operate  and  exercises  restraint  over 
the  actions  of  its  members.  The  human  consciousness 
of  kind  including  sympathies,  antipathies,  prejudices, 
and  cordialities,  develops  the  notion  of  type  and  makes 
the  group  sensitive  to  any  lack  of  conformity  to  that  type. 
Members  who  do  not  follow  the  established  usages  of 
the  group  come  to  be  regarded  as  disloyal  to  its  tradi- 
tions. They  are  restrained,  persecuted,  or  outlawed. 
And  so  it  happens  that  while  the  first  essential  to  the 
development  of  that  group  solidarity  which  spells  vic- 
tory and  survival,  is  a  bond  of  custom  or  usage,  this  very 
unity  may  be  preserved  at  the  expense  of  exterminating 
useful  and  helpful  variation.  The  group  pressure  upon 
its  members  becomes  unreasonable  and  oppressive. 
"What  is  most  evident  is  not  the  difficulty  of  getting  a 
fixed  law,  but  getting  out  of  a  fixed  law ;  not  of  cementing 
(as  upon  a  former  occasion  I  phrased  it)  a  cake  of  cus- 
tom, but  of  breaking  the  cake  of  custom ;  not  of  making 
the  first  preservative  habit,  but  of  breaking  through  it, 
and  reaching  something  better."27 

23  Ratzel,  F. — Anthropogeographie,  vol.  ii,  p.  609. 

2«  Sieroshcvski,  V.  L. — Twelve  Years  in  the  Country  cf  the  Yakuts,  p. 
558. 

27  Bagehot,  op.  cit.,  p.  53. 


118  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

Usages  give  solidarity  and  coherence  to  the  group. 
The  unity  secured  by  loyalty  to  its  traditions  makes  sur- 
vival assured.  But  if  there  is  to  be  further  progress  and 
continuing  success  in  the  struggle,  the  restraint  of  dis- 
loyal members  must  not  be  carried  over  into  a  habit  of 
persecution  which  fails  to  discriminate  between  helpful 
innovators  and  dangerous  egoism.  Nature  allows  varia- 
tions from  type.  When  these  variations  give  advantage, 
natural  selection  secures  the  preservation  of  those  indi- 
viduals which  possess  them.  Yet  among  men  there  is 
often  a  tendency  to  preserve  the  old  usage  at  a  sacrifice 
of  new  and  useful  activities — to  persecute  for  the  sake 
of  persecution.  This  habit  has  led  one  sociologist  to 
say  that  men  try  to  preserve  what  nature  has  ordained 
to  decay.28  The  result  is  a  retarded  state  of  culture. 
"In  certain  respects  each  born  generation  is  not  like  the 
last  born ;  and  in  certain  other  respects  it  is  like  the  last. 
But  the  peculiarity  of  arrested  civilization  is  to  kill  out 
varieties  at  birth  almost ;  that  is,  in  early  childhood,  and 
before  they  can  develop.  The  fixed  custom  which  public 
opinion  alone  tolerates  is  imposed  on  all  minds,  whether 
it  suits  them  or  not."29  Those  primitive  groups  that 
clung  blindly  to  their  superstitions  and  imposed  their 
customary  discipline  upon  their  innovating  members  by 
terrible  sanctions,  killed  out  of  the  whole  society  the  pro- 
pensity to  variation  which  was  the  principle  of  progress. 

If  association  is  responsible  for  the  intellectual  facul- 
ties of  man,  it  is  doubly  responsible  for  his  moral 
nature.  Morals  are  socially  determined.  They  are  the 
result  of  social  growth  and  experience.  They  are  the 
rules  of  life  found  to  work  in  the  evolution  of  any  par- 
ticular group.  Morals  are  nothing  but  the  conviction 

28  Gumplowicz.  29  Bagehot,  op.  cit.,  p.  54. 


ASSOCIATION 


119 


implanted  by  the  social  group  in  the  minds  of  its  mem- 
bers of  the  propriety  of  the  manner  of  life  imposed  by 
it  upon  them.30  When  two  or  more  simple  groups  unite 
and  sovereignty  has  been  organized,  the  different  moral 


FIGUBE  48.     Silver  Amulet  against  the  Evil  Eye. 

views  begin  to  contend  in  the  larger  social  circle.  The 
primitive  moral  codes  are  useless  and  a  new  one  must  be 
formed  if  the  union  is  to  continue.  The  members  of  the 
new  union  become  habituated  to  the  new  institutions 
which  become  necessary  to  sustain  sovereignty  and  new 
conceptions  of  what  is  right,  proper,  allowable  and  good, 
grow  up.  Thus,  while  morals  are  the  product  of  the  re- 
lation of  the  simple  social  group  to  its  individual  mem- 
bers, rights  are  the  product  of  the  union  of  different 
social  elements. 

so  Gumplowicz,  L. — The  Outlines  of  Sociology,  translated  by  F.  W.  Moore, 
p.  168. 


120  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READINGS. 

BAGEIIOT,  "W. — Physics  and  Politics. 
COOLEY,  C.  H. — Social  Organization. 
GIDDINGS,  F.  H. — The  Principles  of  Sociology. 
GIDDINGS,  F.  H. — Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology. 
GUMPLOWICZ,  L. — The  Outlines  of  Sociology. 
KROPOTKIN,  P. — Mutual  Aid. 
SUMNER,  W.  G. — Folkways. 


THE    INFLUENCES    OF    PHYSICAL   ENVIRON- 
MENT 

LIFE  in  society  becomes  a  life  of  increasing  complexity 
and  richness  of  experience.  The  intricate  adjustments 
and  adaptations  demanded  of  social  individuals  tend  to 
make  them  more  refined  in  their  responses  to  external 
stimuli  and  develop  a  highly  complicated  nervous  organi- 
zation accompanied  by  an  increasing  mellowness  of  cul- 
ture. But  the  individual  man  or  animal  living  under  the 
conditions  of  group  life  is  none  the  less  subjected  to  in- 
fluences from  the  surrounding  conditions  of  its  physical 
environment.  Climate,  soil,  food,  and  the  general  topog- 
raphy of  the  group's  habitat  exercise  a  powerful  sway 
over  the  life  of  both  group  and  individual.  The  con- 
ditions of  surrounding  nature  act  as  compelling  and  re- 
straining forces  to  which  adaptations  must  be  made. 
The  inheritance  of  modifications  caused  during  the  life 
of  the  organism  by  its  effort  to  adapt  itself  to  the  forces 
of  environment,  has  been  discussed  in  chapter  II.  In 
the  present  chapter  we  shall  consider  the  effect  of  geo- 
graphic environment  upon  the  mode  of  life  and  the 
cultural  development  of  social  groups. 

"Man  can  no  more  be  scientifically  studied  apart  from 
the  ground  which  he  tills,  or  the  lands  over  which  he 
travels,  or  the  seas  over  which  he  trades,  than  the  polar 
bear  or  the  desert  cactus  can  be  understood  apart  from 

its  habitat.     Man's  relations  to   this  environment  are 

121 


122  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

infinitely  more  numerous  and  complex  than  those  of  the 
most  highly  organized  plant  or  animal.  So  complex  are 
they  that  they  constitute  a  legitimate  and  necessary  ob- 
ject of  special  study.  .  .  .  Man  has  been  so  noisy  about 
the  way  he  has  'conquered  Nature,'  and  Nature  has  been 
so  silent  in  her  persistent  influence  over  man,  that  the 
geographic  factor  in  the  equation  of  human  development 
has  been  overlooked.  .  .  .  Now  the  geographic  element 
in  the  long  history  of  human  development  has  been  opera- 
ting strongly  and  operating  persistently.  Herein  lies  its 
importance.  It  is  a  stable  force.  It  never  sleeps.  This 
natural  environment,  this  physical  basis  of  history,  is, 
for  all  intents  and  purposes  immutable  in  comparison 
with  the  other  factor  in  the  problem— shifting,  plastic, 
progressive,  retrogressive  man."1 

Miss  Semple  makes  us  see  that  in  every  problem  of 
history  there  are  two  main  factors,  commonly  called 
heredity  and  environment.  Professor  Cooley  makes  us 
look  upon  mind  and  matter,  soil,  climate,  flora,  fauna, 
thought,  language,  and  institutions  as  aspects  of  a  single 
rounded  whole,  one  of  total  growth.  He  presents  the 
organic  view  of  history.  He  expressly  denies  that  any 
factor  is  more  ultimate  than  others.  If  we  concentrate 
our  attention  upon  one  of  these  factors,  we  should  never 
go  so  far  as  to  overlook  the  subordination  of  each  to  the 
whole.  "History  is  not  like  a  tangled  skein  which  you 
may  straighten  out  by  getting  hold  of  the  right  end  and 
following  it  with  sufficient  persistence  .  .  .  there  is  no 
logical  primacy,  no  independent  variable,  no  place  where 
the  thread  begins."2  Both  Miss  Semple  and  Professor 

1  Semple,  E.  C. — The  Influences  of  Geographic  Environment,  1911,  ch.  i,  p. 
2. 

2  Cooley,  C.  H. — Pub.  Amer.  Economic  Association,  3rd  Ser.,  vol.  v,  ff. 
426,  and  Cooley,  op.  cit.  ch.  xxii. 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT          123 

Cooley  are  right  in  their  interpretations.  The  impor- 
tant thing  to  remember  is  that  we  are  dealing  with  society, 
a  social  organization  which  has  had  an  organic  growth 
dependent  upon  certain  conditions.  It  is  our  primary 
object  to  classify  and  enumerate  these  conditions,  not  to 
assign  fixed  and  dogmatic  causal  relations  among  them. 
Physical  environment  may  affect  the  human  individual 
as  an  influence  causing  modification  in  structure  or  func- 
tion, it  may  accelerate  or  retard  physical  and  mental 
growth  by  the  presence  or  absence  of  proper  nutriment, 
and  it  may  act  as  a  selective  agency  determining  survival 
or  extermination.  Although  anthropologists  regard  the 
form  of  the  body  as  the  most  stable  characteristic  of  any 
given  race  or  type,  indications  have  been  found  which 
show  that  under  more  favorable  environment  the  physical 
development  of  a  race  may  improve.  The  investigations 
of  Gould  and  Baxter  during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  have 
shown  that  the  representatives  of  European  nationalities 
born  in  America  have  statures  higher  than  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  same  nationalities  born  in  Europe.  It 
was  assumed  that  better  nutrition  and  improved  hygienic 
and  economic  conditions  in  general  might  increase  the 
stature  of  a  people.3  These  conclusions  were  confirmed 
by  Bowditch's  measurements  of  the  school  children  of 
Boston  and  by  other  investigations  of  similar  nature.4 
Corroborative  evidence  has  also  been  obtained  from  the 
study  of  various  social  classes.  Bowditch  found  that 
there  was  an  increase  of  stature,  beginning  with  the 
children  of  unskilled  laborers,  and  increasing  among 

3  Gould,    B.    A. — Investigations    in    the    Military    and    Anthropological 
Statistics   of  American   Soldiers,  New   York,    1869;    and    Baxter,   J.   H. — 
Statistics,   Medical  and   Anthropological,   Wash.,    1875. 

4  Bowditch,  H.  P.— The  Growth  of  Children,  8th  Annual  Report  State  Bd. 
of  Health  of  Mass.,  Boston,  1877;  see  also  Boas,  op.  cit.,  ch.  ii. 


124  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

those  of  skilled  laborers,  members  of  the  mercantile  class 
and  of  the  professional  class.  But  these  changes  of 
stature  are  not  to  be  interpreted  as  changes  in  type.  It 
is  better  to  regard  them  as  due  to  the  elimination  of  re- 
tarding influences  which  prevent  many  individuals  from 
attaining  their  normal  growth.5 

The  retarding  and  accelerating  influences  of  physical 
environment  often  bring  about  very  considerable  changes 
in  anthropometric  traits  during  the  period  of  growth. 
Professor  Boas  says,  "Setting  aside  the  prenatal  de- 
velopment, we  find  that  at  the  time  of  birth  some  parts 
of  the  body  are  so  fully  developed  that  they  are  not  far 
removed  from  their  final  size,  while  others  are  quite  un- 
developed. Thus  the  skull  is,  comparatively  speaking, 
large  at  the  time  of  birth,  grows  rapidly  for  a  short  time, 
but  very  soon  approaches  its  full  size,  and  then  continues 
to  grow  very  slowly.  The  limbs,  on  the  other  hand,  grow 
rapidly  for  many  years.  Other  organs  do  not  begin  their 
rapid  development  until  much  later  in  life.  Thus  it 
happens  that  retarding  or  accelerating  influences  acting 
upon  the  body  at  different  periods  of  growth  may  have 
quite  different  results.  After  the  head  has  nearly  com- 
pleted its  growth,  retarding  influences  may  still  influence 
the  length  of  the  limbs.  The  face,  which  grows  rapidly 
for  a  longer  period  than  the  cranium,  can  be  influenced 
later  than  the  latter.  In  short,  the  influence  of  environ- 
ment may  be  the  more  marked,  the  less  developed  the 
organ  that  is  subject  to  it."  °  An  important  consequence 
of  this  for  the  sociologist  is  that  the  retardation  seems 
to  be  lasting.  "In  other  words,  a  retardation  in  develop- 
ment is  never  completely  made  good  by  long-continued 
development."7  It  has  been  demonstrated  by  the  in- 

5  Boas,  ibid.  « Hid.,  pp.  47-48.  ^  Ibid. 


125 

vestigations  of  Boas  and  Wissler 8  that  unfavorable 
environmental  influences  which  cause  a  child  to  grow 
slowly  during  a  number  of  years  act  as  retarding  causes 
such  that  the  child  will  probably  continue  to  grow  more 
slowly  than  other  normal  children.  Even  at  completed 
growth  the  child  is  smaller  than  its  normal  companions. 
On  the  other  hand,  children  who  have  had  their  growth 
accelerated  by  favorable  surroundings  reach  the  adult 
stage  earlier  and  attain  a  relatively  greater  size  and  de- 
velopment. Thus  the  absolute  size  and  the  relative  pro- 
portions of  the  body  are  influenced  by  periods  of  retarda- 
tion or  acceleration.  These  periods  of  change  in  the  rate 
of  growth  appear  to  be  due  to  such  retarding  causes  as : 
illness  in  early  childhood,  malnutrition,  lack  of  fresh  air 
and  physical  exercise, — to  the  influences  of  environment, 
physical  and  social. 

The  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  this  body  of  evidence 
is  that  environment  is  most  potent  as  a  modifying  cause 
in  early  plastic  years.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  now 
available  several  studies  of  considerable  importance 
which  seem  to  show  that  environment  is  not  such  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  development  of  children.  These  in- 
vestigations have  been  made  by  the  Galton  Laboratory 
for  National  Eugenics  of  the  University  of  London,  un- 
der the  direction  of  Professor  Karl  Pearson.  The  in- 
heritance of  vision  and  the  relative  influence  of  heredity 
and  environment  on  sight  have  been  studied  °  and  the 
statisticians  have  reached  the  following  conclusions  from 
their  admittedly  slender  data:  (1)  No  evidence  whatever 
that  over-crowded,  poverty-stricken  homes,  or  physically 

s  Boas,  F.,  and  Wissler,  C. — Statistics  of  Growth,  Report  of  U.  8.  Com- 
missioner of  Education  for  1904,  PP-  25-132. 
8  Eugenics  Laboratory  Memoirs,  V. 


126  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

ill-conditioned,  or  immoral  parentages  are  markedly 
detrimental  to  the  children's  eye-sight;  (2)  No  sufficient 
or  definite  evidence  that  school  environment  has  a 
deleterious  effect  on  the  eye-sight  of  children;  (3) 
Ample  evidence  that  refraction  and  keenness  of  vision 
are  inherited  characters.  When  it  is  considered  that 
this  study  was  undertaken  in  anticipation  of  finding  that 
inheritance  and  environment  factors  would  be  far  more 
comparable  in  magnitude,  it  is  evident  that  the  investi- 
gation was  pursued  without  bias.  A  second  study,  of 
the  influence  of  defective  physique  and  unfavorable  home 
environment  on  the  intelligence  of  school  children, 
showed  that  there  was  ''no  sign  of  an  environmental 
condition  producing  an  effect  on  the  mentality  of  the 
child  at  all  comparable  with  the  known  influences  of 
heredity."10  This  investigation  also  appears  to  have 
been  undertaken  with  an  open  mind.  Finally,  the  con- 
troversial "Study  of  the  Influence  of  Parental  Alcoholism 
on  the  Physique  and  Ability  of  the  Offspring,"11  ap- 
peared to  show  that  there  was  no  marked  relation  be- 
tween intelligence,  physique  or  disease  of  the  offspring 
and  parental  alcoholism  in  any  of  the  categories  investi- 
gated. For  example,  the  study  showed  that  the  average 
weight  and  height  of  the  children  of  alcoholic  parents 
was  slightly  in  excess  of  that  of  children  of  sober  parents ; 
the  general  health  of  the  children  of  alcoholic  parents  ap- 
peared to  be  slightly  better  than  the  health  of  children  of 
sober  parents.  However  completely  subsequent  investi- 
gations may  correct  or  confirm  the  conclusions  of  the 
London  eugenists,  certain  it  is  that  in  the  present  stage 
of  our  knowledge  we  can  make  no  dogmatic  statements 

10  Eugenics  Laboratory  Memoirs,  VIII,  p.  60. 

11  Eugenics  Laboratory  Memoirs,  X. 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT          129 

as  to  the  absolute  effect  of  environment,  and  until  we  have 
made  more  comprehensive  investigations  it  is  best  to 
leave  the  matter  open. 

A  study  of  the  direct  influence  of  environment  upon 
the  bodily  form  of  man  was  made  in  1908  and  1909  by 
Professor  Boas.12  Four  groups  of  people  were  investi- 
gated; the  south  Italians,  representing  the  Mediterra- 
nean type  of  Europe,  characterized  by  short  stature, 
elongated  head,  dark  complexion  and  hair;  the  central 
European  type,  characterized  by  medium  stature,  short 
head,  light  hair  and  lighter  complexion;  the  northwest 
European  type,  characterized  by  tall  stature,  elongated 
head,  light  complexion,  and  blond  hair ;  and  in  addition, 
an  extended  series  of  east  European  Hebrews,  who  re- 
semble in  some  respects  the  central  European  group. 
The  traits  selected  for  examination  were  head  measure- 
ment, stature,  weight,  and  hair-color.  The  result  of  the 
inquiry  was  to  show  that  the  American-born  descendants 
of  these  types  differ  from  their  parents ;  and  that  these 
differences  develop  in  early  childhood  and  persist 
throughout  life.  It  was  found  that  head  form,  which 
has  always  been  considered  as  one  of  the  most  stable  and 
permanent  characteristics  of  human  races,  undergoes 
far-reaching  changes  due  to  the  transfer  of  the  races  of 
Europe  to  American  soil.  The  east  European  Hebrew, 
who  has  a  very  round  head,  becomes  more  long-headed 
in  the  first  generation  born  in  America ;  the  south  Italian, 
who  in  Italy  has  an  exceedingly  long  head,  becomes 
more  short-headed  in  the  first  generation  born  in  Amer- 
ica ;  so  that  both  approach  a  uniform  type  in  this  country, 

12  Changes  in  Bodily  Form  of  the  Descendants  of  Immigrants,  The  Im- 
migration Commission,  61st.  Cong.,  2d  Session,  Doc.  no.  208;  see  also 
The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man,  ch.  ii,  for  discussion. 


130  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

so  far  as  roundness  of  head  is  concerned.  If  American 
environment  can  bring  about  a  modification  of  head  form 
in  the  first  generation,  the  question  presents  itself,  may 
it  not  be  that  other  characteristics  may  be  as  easily 
modified?  A  comparison  of  the  width  of  face  of  Bohem- 
ians with  facial  width  of  American-born  individuals  was 
made.  When  the  Bohemians  were  arranged  according 
to  their  ages  at  the  time  of  immigration,  the  results 
showed  that  there  was  a  loss  among  those  who  had  come 
here  as  young  children.  When  this  comparison  was 
continued  with  the  Americans,  born  one,  two,  and  more 
years  after  the  arrival  of  their  mothers,  the  width  of 
face  was  seen  to  decrease  still  further.  It  appears  that 
American  environment  caused  a  retardation  of  the 
growth  of  the  width  of  face.  Professor  Boas  concludes, 
"I  think,  therefore,  that  we  are  justified  in  the  conclusion 
that  the  removal  of  the  east  European  Hebrew  to  America 
is  accompanied  by  a  marked  change  in  type,  which  does 
not  affect  the  young  child  born  abroad  and  growing  up 
in  American  environment,  but  which  makes  itself  felt 
among  the  children  born  in  America,  even  a  short  time 
after  the  arrival  of  the  parents  in  this  country.  The 
change  of  type  seems  to  be  very  rapid,  but  the  changes 
continue  to  increase  so  that  the  descendants  of  immi- 
grants born  a  long  time  after  the  arrival  of  the  parents 
in  this  country  differ  more  from  their  parents  than  do 
those  born  a  short  time  after  the  arrival  of  the  parents 
in  the  United  States."  13  If  this  process  of  change  ex- 
plains the  difference  between  racial  types  in  America 
it  is  possible  that  the  same  environmental  influence  has 
operated  in  the  past  to  produce  many  of  the  racial  types 
which  appear  stable  to-day.  In  considering  these  conclu- 

i3  Changes  in  the  Bodily  Form  of  Descendants  of  Immigrants,  p.  52. 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT          133 

sions  we  must  remember  that  the  evidence  which  we  have 
points  to  the  fact  that  neither  environment  nor  training 
can  produce,  in  the  sense  of  originating,  human  charac- 
teristics, good  or  bad.  But  it  is  environment  that  deter- 
mines whether  given  characteristics,  when  born  into  the 
world,  shall  perish  by  starvation  or  conflict,  or  shall  sur- 
vive and  perpetuate  themselves  in  following  generations. 

Perhaps  the  most  obvious  and  rigorous  effect  of  phys- 
ical environment  is  the  selective  influence  exercised  by 
climatic  gradations  from  extreme  heat  to  extreme  cold, 
and  from  excessive  aridity  to  excessive  moisture.  Phys- 
ical environment  sets  limits  to  human  habitation.  Life 
is  maintained  with  great  difficulty  in  the  Arctic  and  Ant- 
arctic regions.14  In  the  Torrid  regions  activities  must  be 
confined  to  the  comparative  cool  of  the  early  morning 
or  the  evening.  The  intense  heat  of  mid-day  makes  in- 
action necessary. 

The  heat  belt,  that  section  of  the  globe  lying  roughly 
between  30°  north  latitude  and  30°  south  latitude  where 
the  mean  annual  temperature  is  68°  Fahrenheit,  is  in- 
habited by  peoples  who  have  during  the  last  five  hundred 
years  contributed  little  to  human  advancement.  The 
natives  of  the  tropics  and  sub-tropics,  of  Mexico,  the 
Central  American  republics,  the  West  Indies,  the  greater 
part  of  South  America,  practically  the  whole  of  Africa, 
Arabia,  India,  Burma,  Indo-China,  the  Malay  Peninsula, 
the  Malay  Archipelago,  Polynesia,  and  the  Philippine 
Islands,  have  contributed  an  almost  negligible  addition 
to  art,  literature,  science  and  thought.  It  has  been  the 
inhabitants  of  those  countries  which  lie  outside  the  heat 
belt,  the  Continent  of  Europe,  the  United  Kingdom,  the 
United  States,  Canada,  Australia,  Central  and  Northern 

i*  See  figures  49  and  50. 


134  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

Asia,  Japan,  and  the  greater  part  of  China,  that  have 
achieved  things  in  art,  literature  and  science  during  the 
last  one  thousand  years.15  Climate  affects  the  energy 
and  regularity  with  which  labor  is  conducted.  Extreme 
heat  such  as  exists  in  the  torrid  and  semi-torrid  regions 
mentioned,  tends  to  enervate  the  worker,  whether  he  be 
manual  laborer  or  brain  worker.  Prolonged  and  per- 
sistent labor  is  impossible.  The  result  is  unstable  and 
irresponsible  methods  of  life.  Regular  habits  are  not 
easy  to  cultivate  when  heat  makes  effort  desultory.10 

Climatic  conditions  in  the  far  north  are  such  as  to  in- 
terfere with  the  regularity  of  labor.  The  intense  cold 
benumbs  the  limbs  and  interferes  with  freedom  of  move- 
ment.17 It  depresses  the  normal  operation  of  the  vital 
processes  and  dulls  ambition.  "Thus  we  find  that  no 
people  living  in  a  very,  northern  latitude  have  ever  pos- 
sessed that  steady  and  unflinching  industry  for  which  the 
inhabitants  of  temperate  regions  are  remarkable.  The 
reason  for  this  becomes  clear  when  we  remember  that  in 
the  more  northern  countries  the  severity  of  the  weather 
and,  at  some  seasons,  the  deficiency  of  light  render  it 
impossible  for  people  to  continue  their  usual  out-of-door 
employments. " 18  In  cold  climates  the  bodily  warmth 
necessary  to  sustain  vital  processes  in  a  normal  state  is 
maintained  by  the  consumption  of  large  quantities  of 
oily  food,  such  as  whale  oil,  and  blubber.  But  this 
highly  carbonized  food,  although  very  essential,  is  quite 
scarce.  It  can  be  obtained  only  from  the  fat  and  oils  of 
powerful  and  ferocious  animals.  This  lack  of  sufficient 
food  affects  the  numbers  of  the  people.  Deficiency  of 

is  Ireland,  A. — The  Far  Eastern  Tropics,  pp.  2-4. 

10  Buckle,  H.  T. — History  of  Civilisation  in  England,  1857-18G1,  ch.  ii. 

"See  figure  51. 

is  Ibid. 


•2 

— .  cc 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT          137 

subsistence  is  reflected  in  the  sparse  population.  In- 
deed, the  fact  of  its  scarcity  has  been  responsible  for 
certain  characters  in  the  culture  of  the  Eskimo  which 
are  revolting  to  us  and  seem  quite  inconceivable,  largely 
because  the  mitigated  rigors  of  our  environment  have 
accustomed  us  to  milder  usages.  For  example,  while  it 
is  customary  with  us  to  respect  and  look  after  the  aged 
members  of  our  family,  among  the  Eskimo  it  is  required 
of  children  to  kill  their  parents  after  they  have  become 
too  old  to  help  the  family  or  serve  the  community.  It  is 
considered  a  breach  of  filial  duty  not  to  kill  the  aged 
parent.  The  custom  is  founded  upon  the  ethical  law 
of  the  Eskimo  and  rests  upon  the  whole  mass  of  tradi- 
tional lore  and  custom.19  When  members  of  the  com- 
munity cannot  work  and  contribute  to  the  food  supply 
they  have  to  be  made  away  with  because  there  are  young 
mouths  to  feed  and  there  is  otherwise  not  sufficient  food 
for  all. 

Races  are  very  sensitive  to  climatic  environment. 
Although  man  is  more  adaptable  to  climatic  changes 
than  many  animals,  environment  in  its  climatic  influences 
does  act  nevertheless  as  a  selective  agency.  For  ex- 
ample, the  Eskimo  sickens  and  dies  in  the  temperate  and 
semi-torrid  zone.  The  European  cannot  endure  the  long- 
winters  and  the  severe  cold  of  the  Arctic  Circle.  The 
negro  perhaps  would  die  out  in  northern  United  States 
were  he  not  replenished  from  the  South.  And  the  Scan- 
dinavian does  not  seem  to  prosper  in  the  dry,  sunny  por- 
tions of  the  United  States  where  he  is  subject  to  dis- 
eases of  the  skin  and  nerves  which  appear  seriously  to 
deplete  his  numbers  in  a  few  generations.  But  in  the 

i»  Boas,  F. — "The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man,"  Jour.  Amer.  Folk-Lore,  v.  14, 
p.  10. 


139 

rainy  Northwest,  which  resembles  his  native  habitat,  he 
thrives  both  in  body  and  estate.20 

Besides  the  climatic  gradations  in  temperature  which 
are  found  in  different  latitudes,  there  is  climatic  varia- 
tion in  temperature  correlated  with  altitude.  There  are 
zones  of  latitude  and  zones  of  altitude.21  Miss  Sem- 
ple  tells  us  that  the  southern  slope  of  the  Monte 
Rosa  Alps,  from  glacier  cap  at  4,500  meters  to  the  banks 
of  the  Po  River,  yields  within  certain  limits  a  zonal  epit- 
ome of  European  life  from  Lapland  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean.22 Climate  changes  with  altitude  in  much  the 
same  way  as  with  latitude.  Generally  speaking,  heat 
and  absolute  humidity  diminish  as  height  increases,  while 
rainfall  becomes  greater  up  to  a  certain  level.  "The 
effect  of  ascending  and  descending  currents  of  air  is  to 
diminish  the  range  of  temperature  on  mountain  slopes 
and  produce  rather  an  oceanic  type  of  climate."23  Uni- 
form climate  is  usually  found  in  a  land  of  monotonous 
relief,  while  a  region  rich  in  vertical  articulations  is  rich 
also  in  local  varieties  of  climate.  Plant  and  animal  life 
conform  to  the  climatic  levels  at  different  altitudes. 

"Central  Asia  has  a  threefold  cultural  stratification 
of  its  population,  each  attended  by  the  appropriate  den- 
sity, according  to  location  in  steppe,  piedmont  and  moun- 
tain. The  steppes  have  their  scattered  pastoral  nomads ; 
the  piedmonts,  with  their  irrigation  streams,  support 
sedentary  agricultural  peoples,  concentrated  at  focal 
points  in  commercial  and  industrial  towns;  the  higher 
reaches  of  the  mountains  are  occupied  by  sparse  groups 

20  Huntington,  H. — "Changes  of  Climate  and  History,"  Amer.  Hist.  Re- 
view, vol.  18,  no.  2,  Jan.  1913,  p.  231. 

21  See  figure  52. 

22  Semple,  op.  cit.,  p.  557.  23  Ibid.,  p.  558. 


140  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

of  peasants  and  shepherds,  wringing  from  upland  pas- 
ture and  scant  field  a  miserable  subsistence. ' ' 24 

Thus  far  we  have  discussed  climatic  differences  as 
though  they  occurred  in  certain  fixed  bands  circling  the 
earth.  But  climate  in  any  given  locality  is,  as  we  all 
know  from  our  own  experience,  a  relatively  variable 
quantity.  Aside  from  seasonal  change  there  is  much 
latitude  of  variation.  This  climatic  cycle  when  con- 
sidered in  its  wider  aspect,  that  is,  leaving  out  the  tem- 
porary fluctuations  of  the  year,  and  concentrating  our 
attention  upon  changes  that  occur  or  recur  over  the 
period  of  many  years  or  even  centuries,  is  an  important 
cause  of  movements  of  population.  Recognition  of  the 
part  played  in  history  by  climatic  changes  has  led  to  the 
formulation  of  the  theory  of  pulsatory  climatic  changes 
by  Ellsworth  Huntington.25  "It  seems  to  be  true,  as  a 
principle,  that,  in  regions  occupied  by  the  ancient  em- 
pires of  Eurasia  and  northern  Africa,  unfavorable 
changes  of  climate  have  been  the  cause  of  depopulation, 
war,  migration,  the  overthrow  of  dynasties,  and  the  de- 
cay of  civilization;  while  favorable  changes  have  made 
it  possible  for  nations  to  expand,  grow  strong,  and  de- 
velop the  arts  and  sciences."20  However,  this  by  no 
means  implies  that  all  invasions  and  all  prosperity  are 
supposed  to  be  due  to  climatic  causes,  but  merely  that 
climate  has  been  one  of  the  important  factors  in  pro- 
ducing such  results.27 

"In  relatively  dry  regions  increasing  aridity  is  a  dire 
calamity,  giving  rise  to  famine  and  distress.  These,  in 
turn,  are  fruitful  causes  of  wars  and  migrations,  which 

2*  Ibid.,  p.  558. 

25  The  Pulse  of  Asia,  1907. 

20  Huntington,  E. — Palestine  and  Its  Transformation,  1910,  p.  251. 

27  Huntington,  "Changes  of  Climate  and  History,"  p.  215. 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT          141 

engender  the  fall  of  dynasties  and  empires,  the  rise  of 
new  nations,  and  the  growth  of  new  civilizations.  If, 
on  the  contrary,  a  country  becomes  steadily  less  arid,  and 
the  conditions  of  life  improve,  prosperity  and  content- 
ment are  the  rule.  There  is  less  temptation  to  war,  and 
men's  attention  is  left  more  free  for  the  gentler  arts 
and  sciences  which  make  for  higher  civilization/'28 
"...  Among  primitive  men  the  nature  of  the  province 
which  a  tribe  happens  to  inhabit  determines  its  mode 
of  life,  industries,  and  habits;  and  these  in  turn  give 
rise  to  various  moral  and  mental  traits,  both  good  and 
bad.  Thus  definite  characteristics  are  acquired,  and  are 
passed  on  by  inheritance  or  training  to  future  genera- 
tions. If  it  be  proved  that  the  climate  of  any  region 
has  changed  during  historic  times,  it  follows  that  the 
nature  of  the  geographic  provinces  concerned  must  have 
been  altered  more  or  less.  For  example,  among  the 
human  inhabitants  of  Central  Asia,  widespread  poverty, 
want,  and  depression  have  been  substituted  for  compara- 
tive competence,  prosperity  and  contentment.  Dis- 
orders, wars,  migrations  have  arisen.  Kace  has  been 
caused  to  mix  with  race  under  new  physical  conditions, 
which  have  given  rise  to  new  habits  and  character.  The 
impulse  toward  change  and  migration  received  in  the 
vast  arid  regions  of  Central  Asia  has  spread  outward, 
and  involved  all  Europe  in  the  confusion  of  the  Dark 
Ages."29 

The  pulsations  of  climate  which  have  been  important 
factors  in  the  movements  of  populations  both  in  prehis- 
toric and  historic  times  are  of  several  types.  The  first 
type  of  climatic  change  is  that  of  the  Glacial  period,  dur- 
ing which  great  fluctuations  took  place  probably  simul- 

28  The  Pulse  of  Asia,  p.  14',  29  Ibid.,  pp.  15-16. 


142  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

taneously  throughout  the  northern  hemisphere.  It  is 
held,  with  some  evidence,  that  once  in  thirty-six  years, 
on  the  average,  we  pass  through  what  may  be  called  a 
climatic  cycle.  There  are  two  extremes  during  a  cycle, 
at  one  of  which  the  climate  of  continental  regions  for  a 
series  of  years  is  unusually  cool  and  rainy,  with  a  low 
barometric  pressure  and  relatively  frequent  storms; 
while  at  the  other  it  is  comparatively  warm  and  dry, 
with  high  pressure  and  few  storms.  These  changes  are 
most  extreme  in  mid-continental  regions,  decreasing 
toward  the  sea-coast.  Thus  the  Glacial  period  as  a 
whole  represents  the  largest  type  of  pulsation.  But  upon 
it  are  superposed  the  great  pulsations  known  as  Gla- 
cial epochs,  each  with  a  length  measured  probably  in 
tens  of  thousands  of  years.  The  steady  progress  of  these 
cycles  is  interrupted  by  smaller  changes  of  climate,  such 
as  those  of  which  there  is  evidence  during  historic  times 
in  Central  Asia.  Finally  the  climate  of  the  world  pul- 
sates in  cycles  of  thirty-six  years,  and  even  these  are  in- 
terrupted by  seasonal  changes  and  by  storms. 

We  have  often  heard  it  said  that  civilization  has  ad- 
vanced from  east  to  west.  Mr.  Huntlngton  considers  it 
more  accurate  to  say  that  civilization  has  advanced  from 
south  to  north.  The  civilizations  which  started  in  Egypt 
and  Babylonia,  we  know,  spread  to  Persia,  slightly  farther 
north.  Then  Syria,  Greece,  and  Carthage  became  dom- 
inant. Next,  Rome  until  its  decline,  and  then  an  obscure 
period  of  transition  until  France,  Austria,  and  the  states 
of  southern  Germany  grew  in  prominence.  Finally, 
during  modern  times,  the  northern  nations  of  Europe 
have  risen  to  power.  The  common  explanation  has  been 
that  as  man  became  more  civilized  he  also  became  better 
adapted  to  colder  and  moister  climatic  conditions.  Mod- 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT          143 

ern  man  has  presumably  a  higher  nervous  organization. 
But  Huntington  believes  that  since  first  the  race  gained 
the  rudiments  of  civilization,  it  has  always  made  most 
rapid  progress  under  essentially  the  same  climatic  condi- 
tions. ' '  The  conditions  are  that  the  summers  shall  have 
a  sufficient  degree  of  warmth  and  of  rainfall  to  make  agri- 
culture easy  and  profitable,  but  not  enough  to  be 
enervating;  that  the  winters  shall  be  cool  enough  to  be 
bracing,  but  not  deadening ;  and  that  the  relation  of  sum- 
mer to  winter  shall  be  such  that  with  forethought  every 
man  can  support  himself  and  his  family  in  comfort  the 
year  round,  while  without  forethought  he  and  his  will 
suffer  seriously."30  These  conditions  appear  to  have 
been  present  in  each  of  the  great  nations  of  history  at 
the  time  when  it  has  risen  to  the  highest  degree  of  civili- 
zation and  power.  During  the  early  part  of  the  Christian 
Era  there  was  a  relatively  sudden  desiccation  in  Central 
Asia.  During  the  previous  centuries  the  region  was 
moist  and  fertile.  It  supported  a  vast  population  of 
men  and  animals.  When  the  rainfall  decreased  fifty  per 
cent.,  flocks  of  sheep  diminished  and  the  inhabitants 
were  obliged  to  migrate  in  search  of  food.  As  these 
nomadic  tribes  pressed  outward  from  Central  Asia, 
they  came  in  contact  with  others.  Peoples  pressed  upon 
peoples,  confusion  spread  in  every  direction,  the  wave 
of  migration  was  felt  in  Europe  two  thousand  miles 
away.  In  Caesar's  time,  Europe  was  cold  and  swampy, 
but  as  it  became  warmer  the  throngs  of  primitive  peoples, 
driven  from  behind  by  the  hordes  of  restless  nomads  who 
had  forsaken  the  arid  Caspian  basin,  swarmed  into  this 
fertile  country.  Climatic  changes  in  Rome  sapped  the 
strength  of  the  original  population,  so  that  in  time  the 

so  Hid.,  pp.  381-382. 


144  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

governing  power  fell  into  the  hands  of  vigorous  northern 
barbarians.     The  civilization  of  Home  declined.31 

We  have  now  examined  two  kinds  of  climatic  change, 
latitudinal  and  pulsatory.  It  remains  to  consider  the 
influence  of  more  local  changes,  what  we  commonly  call 
the  weather.  Careful  investigation  has  confirmed  the 
popular  belief  that  clear,  cool  weather  is  invigorating. 
Dexter,  in  his  book,  "Weather  Influences,"  has  made 
a  study  of  the  influence  of  various  meteorological  con- 
ditions upon  the  conduct  of  school  children,  upon  the 
occurrence  of  crime,  and  upon  the  number  of  errors  made 
by  bank  clerks.  In  damp,  muggy  weather  people  feel 
disagreeable  and  suppose  themselves  ready  to  do  all  sorts 
of  evil  things.  As  a  matter  of  fact  they  do  not  do  them, 
for  the  vital  functions  are  so  far  depressed  that  there 
is  no  surplus  energy  to  spend  in  doing  anything  very 
active,  either  good  or  bad.  Dry,  windy  days  stimulate 
the  vital  processes,  unless  it  be  exceptionally  warm,  and 
create  a  surplus  of  energy  which  finds  expression  in  work 

si  The  evidence  employed  to  substantiate  the  theory  of  pulsatory  climatic 
changes  is  roughly  of  four  kinds.  The  first  kind  consists  of  physiographic 
phenomena  such  as  river  terraces,  lake  strands,  denuded  mountain 
slopes,  desiccated  springs,  and  rivers  whose  salinity  has  increased.  A  second 
kind  consists  of  archeological  phenomena,  ruins  of  great  cities  in  places 
whose  supply  of  water  is  not  now  one-tenth  large  enough  to  support  such 
a  population  as  once  existed.  A  third  kind  of  evidence  consists  of  his- 
toric accounts  of  famines,  of  old  roads  across  the  desert  which  to-day  are 
impassable.  Finally,  evidence  is  based  upon  plant  life.  The  thickness  of 
the  rings  of  annual  growth  in  old  trees  has  been  found  to  be  proportional 
to  the  amount  of  rainfall.  Huntington  measured  the  rings  of  annual  growth 
of  450  of  the  Big  Trees  of  California,  Sequoia  gigantea,  and  plotted  the 
curve  of  climatic  pulsation  indicated  by  variation  in  these  rings.  The 
trees  which  were  measured  were  from  230  to  3200  years  old.  Eighty  were 
over  2000  years  old  and  three  more  than  3000  years  old.  The  data  was, 
therefore,  quite  comprehensive.  The  curve  showed  a  remarkable  verifica- 
tion of  the  theory  of  pulsatory  climatic  change.  The  dry  periods  corre- 
sponding with  the  periods  of  desiccation  shown  by  other  phenomena.  See 
"Changes  of  Climate  and  History." 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT          145 

or  mischief,  as  the  case  may  be.  On  very  dry  days  in 
Denver  the  amount  of  crime  among  adults  and  of  mis- 
conduct among  school  children  increases  largely.  The 
nerves  seem  to  become  unstrung  by  reason  of  the  high 
state  of  electric  or  magnetic  tension,  by  the  dryness  and 
the  wind.  When  the  wind  dies  down  and  the  air  becomes 
moist,  the  nerves  return  to  their  normal  condition,  but 
the  system  has  been  through  an  experience  which  reduces 
the  power  to  control  emotional  impulses.  We  find  that 
people  in  extremely  hot,  dry  countries,  like  Persia  and 
Chinese  Turkestan,  are  highly  emotional  and  seriously 
lacking  in  self-control. 

Each  kind  of  climate  and  the  geographical  character- 
istics of  every  inhabited  region  exert  more  or  less  influ- 
ence upon  the  industrial  life  and  the  social  organization 
of  the  people.  If  the  plain  is  waterless  in  summer  and 
the  plateau  deeply  buried  in  snow  in  the  winter,  the  ani- 
mals must  migrate.  Man  finds  the  region  too  dry  in 
one  part  and  too  cold  in  another  part  for  agriculture. 
Therefore  he  must  live  upon  animals,  either  as  a  hunter, 
or,  after  he  has  partially  domesticated  some  species  of 
animal,  as  a  shepherd.  This  leads  to  a  nomadic  life, 
which  in  turn  induces  habits  of  cleanliness  in  eating, 
traveling,  sleeping,  working,  and  resting.  Such  habits 
becoming  mass  phenomena  or  usages  of  the  group,  de- 
velop moral  standards  of  abstemiousness,  hardihood  un- 
der physical  difficulties,  laziness,  hospitality,  and  the  like. 
Thus  the  physical  features  mold  the  people.  Geograph- 
ical environment  has  an  important  influence  upon  the 
forms  of  invention.  Protection  against  exposure  is  at- 
tained in  accordance  with  the  available  materials;  for 
example,  the  snow  house  of  the  Eskimo,  the  bark  wigwam 
of  the  Indian,  and  the  cave  dwelling  of  the  tribes  of  the 


146  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

desert.  The  complex  bows  of  the  Eskimo  appear  to  be 
due  to  the  lack  of  any  long  elastic  material  for  bow- 
staves  and  various  devices  have  been  invented  for  secur- 
ing elasticity  of  the  bow  where  elastic  wood  is  difficult 
to  obtain.  Tribes  without  permanent  habitation  resort 
to  skin  receptacles  and  baskets  as  substitutes  for  pot- 
tery.32 

During  the  thousands  of  years  before  history  was 
written  primitive  men  were  subjected  to  the  varying 
climatic  influences  which  we  have  described.  These  cli- 
matic influences  were  conditions  to  which  primitive  men 
had  to  adjust  and  adapt  themselves  as  best  they  might. 
A  great  climatic  change  which  caused  the  desiccation  of 
a  large  and  highly  populated  area  killed  off  its  human 
inhabitants  by  thousands.  Those  whose  constitutions 
were  plastic  enough  to  withstand  the  change  and  make 
the  necessary  adaptations  survived;  others  perished  or 
migrated  to  more  favorable  territory.  In  the  course  of 
migrations,  these  early  peoples  not  possessing  our  knowl- 
edge of  means  of  transportation  and  communication, 
were  subordinated  to  the  natural  barriers  or  means  of 
travel  such  as  mountain  masses  and  valleys.  The  sur- 
face of  the  earth  has  determined  the  movements  of  popu- 
lations and  the  migrations  of  races  from  those  areas 
which  climatic  changes  have  made  uninhabitable. 

Valleys  offer  channels  for  the  easy  movement  of  hu- 
manity. They  are  grooves  which  have  time  and  again 
determined  the  destination  of  aimless,  unplanned  mi- 
grations. The  passing  of  peoples  follows  these  nature- 
made  highways.  The  maritime  plain  of  Palestine  has 
been  an  established  route  of  commerce  and  war  from  the 
time  of  Sennacherib  to  Napoleon.  Up  the  Danube  valley 

32  Boas,  op.  cit.,  p.  1GO. 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT          149 

have  pressed  long  series  of  barbarian  invaders  from  At- 
tila  the  Hun  to  the  Turkish  besiegers  of  Vienna  in  1683. 
The  river  is  a  great  natural  highway  to  which  every 
neighboring  state  desires  access.  In  America,  the  Mo- 
hawk depression  through  the  northern  Appalachians 
diverts  a  significant  amount  of  Canada's  trade  from  the 
Great  Lakes  to  the  Hudson.33  Formerly  it  enabled  the 
Dutch  traders  at  New  Amsterdam  to  tap  the  fur  trade 
of  Canada's  forests,  and  later  after  the  construction  of 
the  Erie  canal,  enabled  New  York  to  defy  the  competi- 
tion of  Boston,  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  in  provid- 
ing tne  easiest  outlet  for  the  commerce  of  the  rich  Ohio 
valley.  The  Cumberland  Gap  was  the  natural  avenue 
to  the  West  from  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas.  Buffalo, 
Indian  and  pioneer  have  successively  followed  this 
route.34  Natural  conditions  have  fixed  channels  in  which 
the  stream  of  humanity  most  easily  moves.35  The  direc- 
tion of  mountain  ranges  determines  within  certain  limits 
the  destination  of  migration  and  this  tends  to  keep  suc- 
ceeding waves  to  the  old  channels.  These  lines  of  least 
resistance  are  first  sought  out  and  only  when  they  are 
blocked  or  preempted  do  the  invaders  turn  to  more  diffi- 
cult paths. 

The  long  and  narrow  valley  of  the  Nile,  with  its  fertile 
hem  of  flood-plain  on  either  bank  and  the  protecting  bar- 
rier of  the  great  desert  beyond,  furnished  conditions 
favorable  to  the  development  of  a  great  civilization. 
Here  was  a  rich  soil  kept  in  splendid  condition  by  the 
annual  flood  period  which  replenished  the  vital  mineral 
and  organic  elements  withdrawn  by  the  crops,  so  that 

33  Semple,  op.  cit.,  p.  5. 

3*  Semple,  E.  C. — American  History  and  Its  Geographic  Conditions,  p.  68. 

36  See   figure  53. 


150  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

the  land  stood  the  drain  of  thousands  of  years  of  culti- 
vation required  to  support  the  thick  population  of  the 
valley.  The  date-palm,  easy  of  cultivation,  offered 
nourishing  food.  The  vast  stretches  of  the  desert  be- 
yond the  valley  wall  protected  the  inhabitants  from  ex- 
ternal foes.  Warm  climate,  fertile  soil,  constant  water 
supply  and  protection  from  invasion  made  easily  pos- 
sible production  beyond  the  necessities  of  life.  Such 
surplus  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  development  of 
civilization.  So  it  was  that  the  Nile  valley  became  one 
of  the  earliest  culture  centers.  The  formation  of  the 
valley,  making  the  river  always  accessible,  facilitated  the 
development  of  trade  and  commercial  relations  between 
the  many  little  states  first  appearing  along  the  Nile. 
The  disposable  wealth  created  by  this  combination  of 
happy  circumstances  led  in  later  centuries  to  the  rise  of 
non-laboring  classes — rulers,  courtiers,  soldiers,  priests, 
landlords,  and  merchant  princes — at  times  serviceable, 
at  other  times  merely  parasitic.  The  leisure  made  pos- 
sible by  slave  labor  on  a  gigantic  scale  gave  time  for  the 
development  of  art,  literature,  science  and  philosophy. 
Civilization  resulted  from  surplus  production  depend- 
ing in  turn  upon  the  existence  of  certain  natural  resources 
and  favorable  conditions  of  climate  and  location. 

"Egypt  affords  an  excellent  example  of  the  value  of 
climatic  study.  .  .  .  Here  we  have  a  hot,  dry  climate 
where  the  main  dependence  for  the  crops  is  not  on  the 
rains  but  on  the  rise  of  the  Nile.  This  rise,  regular  as 
the  seasons,  the  comparatively  small  change  in  tempera- 
ture among  the  seasons  themselves,  the  almost  complete 
absence  of  rainfall,  taken  in  connection  with  the  fertility 
of  the  soil  and  the  small  number  of  staple  crops,  has  pro- 
duced a  condition  of  affairs  in  which  all  that  is  demanded 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT  151 

is  a  steady  carrying  out  of  a  routine  which  never  changes 
and  requires  rather  brawn  than  brain.  This  we  find 
admirably  reflected  in  the  character  of  the  peasantry, 
now,  as  in  antiquity,  interested  only  in  the  securing  of 
enough  food  to  live  and  to  marry  upon.  But  this  did 
not  seriously  modify  the  character  of  the  ruling  class 
for,  from  pre-dynastic  times,  they  have  always  been 
foreigners.  Accordingly,  their  character  has  always 
been  that  formed  in  other  countries.  Only  one  effect 
should  be  noted.  Just  because  they  did  not  adjust  them- 
selves to  the  climate,  they  became  enervated  and  finally 
were  killed  off.  In  other  words,  the  climate  has  only  a 
negative  effect  on  the  men  who  have  made  Egyptian  cul- 
ture worthy  of  our  study."  3G 

Natural  conditions  in  the  Nile  valley  permitted  the 
congregation  of  a  large  population  in  a  small  area  and 
thereby  made  possible  the  development  of  a  high  civiliza- 
tion. For  the  closer  the  contact  between  men,  the  more 
intimate  the  intercourse,  and  the  less  the  likelihood  of 
losing  the  fruits  of  collective  experience.  Competition 
of  many  individuals  sharpens  wits  and  raises  the  activ- 
ity of  human  powers.  The  maintenance  of  steady  in- 
crease of  population  seems  to  be  intimately  connected 
with  the  development  of  culture.37  Sparsely  populated 
areas  have  a  low  type  of  civilization.  In  all  centers  of 
civilization,  whether  old  or  new,  we  find  dense  popula- 
tions. If  the  topography  of  a  region  limits  the  possi- 
bilities of  intercourse  and  renders  large  permanent 
assemblies  of  men  impossible  there  is  slight  chance  for 
the  development  of  an  enduring  culture. 

36  Olmstead,  A.  T. — "Climate  and  History,"  Journal  of  Geography,  vol.  x, 
pp.   163-168. 

37  Ratzel,  F. — History  of  Mankind,  vol.  i,  pp.  10-12. 


152  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

The  topography  of  an  inhabited  region  besides  deter- 
mining the  direction  and  destination  of  migrations  or 
furnishing  protection  from  the  assaults  of  hostile  peo- 
ples, often  results  in  the  more  or  less  complete  isolation 
of  a  people  from  the  progressive  or  retarding  influences 
acting  upon  the  general  population  without  the  shel- 
tered valley  or  far  from  the  lonely  island. 

Isolation  prohibits  much  intermixture  of  different 
stocks.  This  tends  to  accentuate  traits  already  existing 
in  the  stock,  as  potential  possibilities.  Sometimes  de- 
fects, intensified  and  inherited,  appear  with  great 
frequency.  Dr.  Alexander  Graham  Bell  made  a  careful 
genealogical  study  of  western  Martha's  Vineyard  and 
found  that  there  had  been  a  great  deal  of  intermarrying 
and  a  great  many  consanguineous  marriages.  The  lo- 
cality is  inhabited  by  farmers  and  fishermen  of  average 
intelligence  and  good  character.  Deaf  mutes  are  strik- 
ingly numerous.  In  1880  there  was  a  proportion  of  1 
to  25  of  the  whole  population  affected.38  Further  south 
along  the  Atlantic  coast  there  are  beaches  or  banks  some 
distance  from  the  mainland.  Here  there  are  many  con- 
sanguineous marriages.  A  wide-spread  trait  that  may 
be  ascribed  to  this  inbreeding  is  suspicion  and  mental 
dullness;  and  a  relatively  high  frequency  of  insanity.39 
Over  sixty-six  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  Sardinia  are 
brunettes.  Whereas,  brunettes  on  the  continental  penin- 
sula of  Italy  range  from  thirty-eight  per  cent,  to  over 
sixty-six  per  cent,  of  the  total  population.  This  shows 
how  the  pure  color  traits  of  the  stock  have  been  preserved 
by  isolation.40 

ss  Davenport,  C.  B. — Heredity  in  Relation  to  Eugenics,  1911,  pp.  191- 
192. 

3»  Ibid.,  p.  193.  *o  Ripley,  W.  Z.—The  Races  of  Europe,  p.  253. 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT 


153 


Isolation  affects  not  only  the  physical  characters  of 
the  people  but  their  cultural  development  as  well.  Sep- 
arated from  the  stream  of  collective  experience  by  moun- 


1 


-  ' 


FIGURE  54.     Natives  adapting  their  life  to  dangerous  conditions  of  existence. 
A   tree-dwelling   in   the   tiger   infested   jungles   of   India. 

tain  barrier  or  sea,  men  retain  customs  and  usages  which 
have  long  since  fallen  into  disuse  in  the  thronging  centers 
of  life  on  the  neighboring  plain  or  continent.  Sardinia 
and  Corsica  are  two  of  the  most  primitive  spots  in  all 
Europe  because  they  are  islands  off  the  main  line.  To 
a  large  extent  feudal  institutions  of  the  Middle  Ages  pre- 
vail. The  old  wooden  plow  of  the  Romans  is  still  in 


154  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

common  use  to-day.41  The  Transylvania  Saxons,  al- 
though isolated  from  their  German  relatives  for  seven 
hundred  years  in  the  midst  of  a  Hungarian  population 
have  preserved  the  Teutonic  traditions  of  the  father- 
land. They  have  clung  stubbornly,  tenaciously,  blindly 
to  each  peculiarity  of  dress,  language  and  custom,  know- 
ing that  every  concession  meant  increased  danger  of  as- 
similation into  the  surrounding  Hungarian  population. 
If  they  had  been  left  on  their  native  soil,  and  surrounded 
by  friends  and  countrymen,  they  would  undoubtedly  have 
changed  as  other  nations  have  changed.  Their  isolated 
position  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  their  sur- 
roundings have  kept  them  what  they  originally  were.42 
The  mountaineers  of  the  southern  Appalachians  have  been 
isolated  from  the  experiences  of  the  rest  of  America  since 
colonial  times.  President  Frost  of  Berea  College  calls 
these  people,  "Our  contemporary  ancestors  of  the 
South. ' '  They  have  been  undisturbed  by  the  railway,  the 
printing-press,  the  electric  car,  the  automobile,  the  power 
loom  and  the  telegraph.  They  retain  in  all  their  sim- 
plicity the  industrial  methods  of  our  colonial  ancestors. 
Wool  is  spun  by  the  old-fashioned  wheel  and  woven  into 
cloth  by  the  clumsy  hand  loom.  Here  we  have  the  sur- 
vival of  a  culture  which  the  rest  of  the  nation  has  out- 
grown. New  ideas  have  been  rapidly  communicated 
outside  these  isolated  mountain  valleys  and  the  whole 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land  has  gained  by  the  dis- 
covery of  the  few.  Isolation,  while  it  may  act  as  a  pro- 
tective influence  in  the  early  stages  of  civilization,  retards 
later  development. 

The  earlier  advocates  of  the  materialistic  interpreta- 

« Ibid.,  p.  271. 

42  Gerard,  E. — The  Land  Beyond  the  Forest,  pp.  31-32,  33,  34. 


FIGURE  55.     Awe-inspiring  Scenery  of  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Colorado. 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT          157 

tion  of  history,  Montesquieu43  and  Buckle,44  attributed 
the  immutability  of  religion,  usages,  manners  and  laws 
in  India  and  other  Oriental  countries  to  their  warm 
climate,  vast  plains  and  great  mountains,  the  grandeur 
of  whose  scenery  excites  the  fancy  and  paralyzes  the 
reason.  The  modern  scientific  geographer  "finds  that 
geographic  conditions  have  condemned  India  to  isolation. 
On  the  land  side,  a  great  sweep  of  high  mountains  has 
restricted  intercourse  with  the  interior;  on  the  sea  side, 
the  deltaic  swamps  of  the  Indus  and  the  Ganges  rivers 
and  an  unbroken  shoreline,  backed  by  mountains  on  the 
west  of  the  peninsula  and  by  coastal  marshes  and  lagoons 
on  the  east,  have  combined  to  reduce  its  accessibility  from 
the  ocean.  The  effect  of  such  isolation  is  ignorance, 
superstition,  and  the  early  crystallization  of  thought  and 
custom.  Ignorance  involves  the  lack  of  material  for 
comparison;  hence  a  restriction  of  the  higher  reasoning 
processes,  and  an  unscientific  attitude  of  mind  which 
gives  imagination  free  play.  In  contrast,  the  accessi- 
bility of  Greece  and  its  focal  location  in  the  ancient 
world  made  it  an  intellectual  clearing-house  for  the  east- 
ern Mediterranean.  The  general  information  gathered 
there  afforded  material  for  wide  comparison.  It  fed 
the  brilliant  reason  of  the  Athenian  philosopher  and  the 
trained  imagination  which  produced  the  masterpieces 
of  Greek  art  and  literature."  45 

Buckle's  theory  was  that  the  awe-inspiring  aspects 
of  nature  in  India,  enormous  mountain  masses,  vast 
heated  plains,  ravages  of  hurricanes,  tempests,  earth- 
quakes, and  devastation  by  animals  hostile  to  man,  con- 

43  Spirit  of  the  Laics,  bk.  xiv,  ch.  iv. 

44  History  of  Civilization  in  England,  ch.  ii. 

45  Semple,  Influences  of   Geographic  Environment,  pp.   18-19. 


158 

stantly  pressing  upon  the  people,  "affected  the  tone  of 
their  national  character."  Associations  were  engen- 
dered in  the  mind  which  made  the  imagination  predom- 
inate over  the  reason  and  infused  into  .the  people  a  spirit 
of  reverence  rather  than  one  of  inquiry.  All  the  sur- 


FIGUBE   56.     Confidence-inspiring  Environment  of   Greece,   the   beautiful 

Vale  of  Tempe. 

rounding  natural  conditions  encouraged  a  disposition, 
to  neglect  the  investigation  of  natural  causes  and  to 
ascribe  events  to  the  intervention  on  the  part  of  super- 
natural agencies.46  Man,  contrasting  himself  with  the 
force  and  majesty  of  nature,  feels  a  sense  of  inferiority, 
and  hardly  cares  to  scrutinize  the  details  of  which  such 
imposing  grandeur  consists. 

The  hypothesis  of  isolation  which  Miss   Semple  ad- 
vances in  contradistinction  to  Buckle's  theory,  seems  on 

4«  Buckle,  op.  cit.,  1873,  p.  126. 


159 

the  whole  the  more  reasonable  of  the  two  explanations, 
especially  when  there  seems  to  be  little  doubt  in  the  minds 
of  many  historians  as  to  the  great  significance  of  com- 
merce and  the  exchange  of  ideas  in  the  development  of 


FIGURE   57.     Confidence-inspiring   Environment  of  Greece,   Mount  Ossa. 

Greek  civilization.  But  there  is  much  truth  in  what 
Buckle  suggests.  His  contention  is  that  the  intellectual 
achievements  of  the  Greek  have  been  in  large  measure 
due  to  the  absence  of  aspects  of  nature  which  terrified  and 
the  presence  of  geographic  surroundings  which  inspired 
confidence  in  human  skill.  The  .^Egean,  with  its  numer- 
ous islands  and  sheltered  harbors,  furnished  refuge  and 
safe  hiding-places  from  hostile  neighbors.  The  moun- 
tains of  the  mainland  were  not  lofty  enough  to  be 
awe-inspiring,  but  were  sufficiently  high  to  give  beauty 
and  suggestion  to  the  scenery.47  Under  these  conditions 

47  See  figures  50  and  57. 


160  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

there  was  adequate  protection  from  enemies,  and  yet  com- 
munication was  still  possible  with  other  peoples  and 
civilizations.  There  was  comparative  safety  without  the 
degree  of  isolation  that  precludes  transmission  of  intel- 
ligence and  development  of  commerce.  Communication 
and  commerce  were  undoubtedly  more  important  factors 
in  the  development  of  Greece  than  the  general  aspects 
of  nature  which  inspired  confidence.  Yet  Buckle  has 
recognized  a  factor  of  environment  which  deserves  con- 
sideration. 

Heinrich  von  Treitschke,  in  his  "Politik,"  ascribes 
the  absence  of  artistic  and  poetic  development  in  Switzer- 
land and  the  Alpine  region  to  the  overwhelming  aspect 
of  nature  whose  majestic  sublimity  there  paralyzes  the 
mind.48  He  cites  the  fact  that,  by  contrast,  the  lower 
mountains  and  hills  of  Swabia,  Franconia  and  Thu- 
ringia,  where  the  scenery  is  milder,  stimulating,  but  not 
overpowering,  have  produced  many  poets  and  artists. 
Moreover,  the  geographical  distribution  of  awards  made 
by  the  Paris  Salon  of  1896,  shows  that  art  flourishes  in 
the  river  lowlands  of  France  where  nature  is  more  ap- 
pealing, rather  than  in  the  rough  highlands  of  Savoy, 
and  the  massive  eastern  Pyrenees.  But  this  difference 
might  be  explained  on  racial  grounds  because  the  popu- 
lation of  the  lowlands  is  Teutonic  and  the  peoples  of  the 
highlands  are  Alpine  and  Celtic. 

Buckle  believes  that  the  sublime  and  terrible  aspects 
of  nature  in  India  exerting  their  depressing  influence 
upon  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  for  many  centuries 
have  been  a  considerable  factor  in  the  development  of 
all  that  is  inconsistent  and  superstitious  in  the  Hindoo 
culture.  The  threatening  aspects  of  the  external  world 

48  See  figure  58. 


FIGURE  59.     The  Great  Gopura,  Madura  Temple,  India, 


INFLUENCES  OF  ENVIRONMENT          165 

have  filled  the  minds  of  the  people  with  images  of  the 
grand  and  the  terrible  which  they  have  striven  to  repro- 
duce in  the  dogmas  of  their  theology,  in  the  character 
of  their  gods,  and  even  in  the  forms  of  their  temples.49 
The  ancient  literature  of  India  shows  evidence  of  the 
most  remarkable  ascendancy  of  the  imagination.50  Most 
of  their  works  on  grammar,  on  law,  on  medicine,  on 
geography,  on  mathematics,  and  on  metaphysics  are  in 
the  form  of  poetry.  There  is  an  excessive  reverence  for 
antiquity.  In  ancient  times  their  wise  and  great  men 
were  supposed  to  have  lived  to  an  extraordinary  age. 
One  eminent  man  ''lived  in  a  pure  and  virtuous  age,  and 
his  days  were  indeed  long  in  the  land,  since  when  he  was 
made  king  he  was  a  million  years  old;  he  then  reigned 
six  million  three  hundred  thousand  years;  having  done 
which,  he  resigned  his  empire,  and  lingered  on  for  one 
hundred  thousand  years  more."51  Speaking  of  the 
growth  of  American  Indian  mythologies  with  their  many 
strange  inconsistencies  and  superstitions,  Professor  Boas 
says,  "There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  impression  made 
by  the  grandeur  of  nature  upon  the  mind  of  primitive 
man  is  the  ultimate  cause  from  which  these  myths  spring, 
but  nevertheless  the  form  in  which  we  find  these  tradi- 
tions is  largely  influenced  by  the  borrowing."52 

Thus,  it  appears  that  the  physical  environment  includ- 
ing its  climatic  relations  has  been  a  significant  factor  in 
social  evolution.  On  the  one  hand,  a  population  is  driven 
from  its  accustomed  abode  by  the  force  of  some  gradual 
climatic  pulsation,  and  the  movement  of  the  people  is 

49  See  figure  59. 

s°  Buckle,  op.  cit.,  ch.  ii. 

51  Ibid. 

52  "The  Growth  of  Indian  Mythologies,"  Jour.  Amer.  Folk-Lore,  vol.  ix, 
p.  9. 


166  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

most  often  along  routes  predestined  by  the  configuration 
of  the  country.  But  on  the  other  hand,  a  race  that  has 
developed  a  civilization  in  some  well  nourished  and  pro- 
tected area  falls  into  decline  because  the  very  conditions 
which  gave  safety  in  the  earlier  period,  now  isolate  the 
people  from  the  great  currents  of  men  and  ideas  that 
move  along  the  more  accessible  river  valleys  and  over 
the  vast  and  fertile  alluvial  plains  where  great  cities 
have  arisen,  causing  exchange  of  commodities  and  the 
contact  of  minds.  If  the  aspects  of  nature  are  terrify- 
ing and  sublime,  the  explanations  that  men  advance  tend 
to  be  colored  with  superstitious  fear.  When  the  sur- 
roundings of  the  people  are  awe-inspiring  the  response 
to  these  manifestations  of  grandeur  are  fear  and  rever- 
ence. This  continued  response  becomes  habit  in  the 
individual  and  custom  in  the  group.  As  the  usage  is 
integrated,  all  those  who  do  not  respond  to  the  terrible 
manifestations  of  nature  with  the  customary  degree  of 
fear  and  reverence  are  regarded  with  suspicion.  That 
is,  the  confident  and  the  skeptical  are  constrained.  Any 
attitude  of  curiosity  or  criticism  is  discouraged  as  es- 
sentially unrighteous  and  endangering  the  safety  of  the 
group.  For  this  reason  the  primitive  man  persecutes 
any  member  of  his  tribe  who,  because  of  a  confident  or 
critical  turn  of  mind,  deviates  too  far  from  the  paths 
prescribed  by  the  established  usages  of  the  group.  Thus 
does  physical  environment  set  the  limits  to  human  habita- 
tion, guide  the  movements  of  aimless  migrations,  stimu- 
late or  retard  the  development  of  civilizations;  some- 
times facilitating  the  easy  communication  of  ideas  and 
the  exchange  of  goods,  and  other  times  impressing  the 
minds  of  a  people  with  a  sense  of  its  grandeur  which 


169 

finds  ultimate  expression  in  rigid  usages  or  grotesque 
mythologies. 

One  final  influence  of  physical  environment  upon  the 
mind  of  man  is  suggested  by  Oscar  Peschel.53  The 
founders  of  the  great  monotheistic  religions  of  the  world, 
Zoroaster,  Moses,  Buddha,  Christ,  and  Mohammed,  be- 
long to  the  subtropical  zone.  This  zone  is  one  which  con- 
tains many  vast  deserts.  "Every  traveler  who  has 
crossed  the  deserts  of  Arabia  and  Asia  Minor  speaks  en- 
thusiastically of  their  beauties;  all  praise  their  atmos- 
phere and  brightness,  and  tell  of  a  feeling  of  invigoration 
and  a  perceptible  increase  of  intellectual  elasticity ;  hence 
between  the  arched  heavens  and  the  unbounded  expanse 
of  plain  a  monotheistic  frame  of  mind  necessarily  steals 
upon  the  children  of  the  desert."54  Forest  scenery  dis- 
tracts the  attention  to  a  thousand  forms  and  sounds,  the 
sunbeams  play  through  the  openings  in  the  trees  on  the 
trembling  and  shining  leaves,  there  are  marvelous  forms 
of  gnarled  roots  and  branches,  there  is  the  creaking  and 
the  sighing,  the  whispering  and  the  rustling  of  the  trees 
together  with  the  sounds  and  voices  of  animals  and  in- 
sects. But  in  the  desert  one  is  impressed  with  only  the 
vast  expanse  of  plain  and  over  all  the  constant  dome  of 
the  heavens.55  Elijah  retired  into  the  desert.  John  the 
Baptist  preached  in  the  desert.  Christ  prepared  him- 
self for  his  career  by  passing  forty  days  and  forty  nights 
in  the  desert.  Mohammed  lived  for  a  long  time  as  a 
shepherd  and  made  frequent  journeys  across  the 
desert.50 

ss  The  Races  of  Man,  from  the  German,  New  York,  1894,  pp.  314-318. 

64  Ibid. 

ss  See  figures  60  and  61. 

ee  Ibid. 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READINGS. 

BUCKLE,  II.  T. — The  History  of  Civilization  in  England. 

DEXTER,  E.  G. — Weather  Influences. 

HUNTINGTON,  E. — The  Pulse  of  Asia. 

SEMPLE,  E.  C. — The  Influences  of  Geographic  Environment. 

THOMAS,  W.  I. — Source  Book  for  Social  Origins,  Part  I. 


FIGURE  61.     A  Bedouin  Tent  in  the  Desert. 


VI 
SOCIAL  HEREDITY 

WHY  is  it  that  you  have  grown  up  to  be  an  American? 
Why  is  it  that  the  mere  accident  of  being  born,  we  will 
say  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  and  being  bred  in  that 
state,  has  made  of  you  an  American  and  not  a  Chinaman 
or  an  Indian?  Aside  from  the  physical  characters  of 
yellow  or  red  skin,  round  head  and  straight  hair,  what 
constitute  the  differences  between  Americans  and  China- 
men or  Indians  are  their  differences  in  culture,  customs, 
usages,  ideals,  art  and  literature.  In  the  plastic  years 
when  you  were  growing  up  you  were  formed  and  molded 
by  the  suggestions  and  impressions  that  flooded  you  from 
all  sides.  Your  developing  consciousness  found  already 
established  certain  standards,  usages,  ways  of  doing 
and  thinking.  Some  of  these  you  were  more  or  less  at 
liberty  to  select  and  pick  and  choose,  others  you  had 
to  observe  so  and  so  and  never  otherwise.  Your  plastic 
mind  was  bent  this  way  or  that  within  the  limits  of  its  in- 
herent adaptability  so  that  now  when  you  are  mature 
you  have  come  to  think  any  standards,  usages,  or  customs 
which  are  different  from  the  ones  you  are  familiar  with 
and  which  your  social  class  is  used  to,  are  strange  and 
unusual,  even  wrong  or  immoral.  You  think  the  China- 
man is  queer,  but  he  also  thinks  you  are  queer.  And  he 
is  quite  as  justified  in  his  opinion  of  you  as  you  are  in 
your  opinion  of  him.  The  essential  difference  of  your 

171 


172  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

diverse  points  of  view  is  that  your  life  experiences  have 
been  different. 

The  social  medium  which  a  child  enters  at  birth,  in 
which  he  lives,  moves  and  has  his  being,  is  fundamental 
in  determining  his  thought  and  action.  The  individual 
from  childhood  to  ripest  old  age  is  more  or  less  recep- 
tive to  the  social  environment  consisting  of  the  stand- 
ards, usages,  and  customs  which  the  group  has  evolved 
out  of  its  collective  experience.  ' '  Barely  can  the  matur- 
est  minds  so  far  succeed  in  emancipating  themselves 
from  this  medium  as  to  undertake  independent  reflection, 
while  complete  emancipation  is  impossible,  for  all  the 
organs  and  modes  of  thought,  all  the  organs  for  con- 
structing thoughts,  have  been  molded  or  at  least  thor- 
oughly imbued  by  it. "  l 

"The  individual  simply  plays  the  part  of  the  prism 
which  receives  the  rays,  dissolves  them  according  to  fixed 
laws  and  lets  them  pass  out  again  in  a  predetermined 
direction  and  with  a  predetermined  color."  2  We  for- 
get that  the  interpretation  the  child  puts  upon  external 
things  is  never  entirely  naive  or  original.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  assume  that  each  civilized  individual's  conduct  of  life 
is  a  purely  logical  process.  The  content  of  the  human 
mind  is  largely  determined  by  the  social  usages  and  con- 
ventions of  class  and  age,  which  in  turn  refract  impres- 
sion and  determine  the  final  form  assumed  by  the  inter- 
pretation.3 There  are  "experiences  thousands  of  years 
old  which  have  been  inherited  for  generations  as  com- 
pleted intuitions;  destinies  historic,  and  prehistoric, 
with  their  effects  upon  mental  character  and  inclination, 
with  their  forms  of  thought  and  mode  of  reasoning; 

1  Gumplovvicz,  op.  cit.,  p.  157. 

2  Ibid.  3  Chapin,  Education  and  the  Mores,  p.  70. 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  173 

sympathies,  prejudices  and  prepossessions  deeply  seated 
and  concentrated  in  the  mind  of  the  'free'  individual  like 
countless  rays  in  a  focus.  They  live  in  him  as  thought, 
though  the  crowd  imagines  that  whether  right  or  wrong, 
praiseworthy  or  blameworthy,  it  is  he  that  cherishes 
them."4  It  is  this  mental  precipitate  of  generations 
long  gone  that  is  condensed  in  the  mind  of  one  person 
and  comprises  the  mental  furniture  which  we  acquire 
in  the  course  of  our  life's  experience.  It  is  active  in 
determining  our  explanations  of  our  actions  and  always 
modifies  our  interpretation  of  the  conduct  of  others. 

Professor  Cooley  speaks  of  this  social  atmosphere 
into  which  we  are  born,  including  its  organization  into 
literature,  art,  and  institutions,  as  the  outside  or  visible 
structure  of  thought.  Although  the  symbols,  the  tradi- 
tions, and  the  institutions  are  projected  from  the  mind, 
yet  from  the  very  instant  of  their  projection,  they  react, 
controlling,  stimulating,  developing,  and  fix  certain 
thoughts  at  the  expense  of  others  to  which  no  awakening 
suggestion  comes.  Thus  all  is  one  growth.  The  "  in- 
dividual is  a  member  not  alone  of  a  family,  a  class,  a 
state,  but  of  a  larger  whole  reaching  back  to  prehistoric 
man  whose  thought  has  gone  to  make  it  up."5  In  this 
social  medium  the  individual  lives  as  in  an  element,  from 
which  he  draws  the  materials  of  his  growth  and  to  which 
he  contributes  whatever  constructive  thought  he  may  ex- 
press. The  individual  mind  becomes  a  blank  when  sep- 
arated from  the  stream  of  collective  experience,  but  im- 
mersed in  the  great  currents  of  men  and  ideas  the  in- 
dividual grows,  drawing  from  the  common  experience 
the  material  for  its  own  life.  This  has  led  Professor 
Cooley  to  say,  "The  growth  of  the  individual  mind 

*  Gumplowicz,  op.  cit.,  p.  158,  5  Cooley,  Social  Organisation,  p.  64, 


174  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

is  not  a  separate  growth,  but  rather  a  differentiation 
within  the  general  mind."  It  has  led  Professor  Gum- 
plowicz  to  say,  "The  great  error  of  individualistic  psy- 
chology is  the  supposition  that  man  thinks.  .  .  .  The 
whole  belief  in  the  freedom  of  human  action  is  rooted  in 
the  idea  that  man's  conduct  is  the  fruit  of  his  thoughts  and 
that  his  thoughts  are  exclusively  his  own.  This  is  an 
error.  He  is  not  self-made  mentally  any  more  than  he 
is  physically.  His  mind  and  thoughts  are  the  product 
of  his  social  medium,  of  the  social  element  whence  he 
arose,  in  which  he  lives. ' ' G 

If  this  social  element  into  which  we  are  born  deter- 
mines in  large  measure  the  course  of  our  mental  devel- 
opment, it  is  important  to  understand  the  process  by 
which  it  has  been  formed  and  to  know  its  limitations. 

Men  inherited  from  their  brute  ancestors  certain  in- 
stincts. But  as  life  in  society  became  increasingly  com- 
plex, new  situations  arose  which  could  not  be  met  by 
instinctive  reactions.  Dispositions  to  perform  a  certain 
reaction  to  stimulus,  dispositions  which  had  been  in- 
herited, not  acquired  in  the  life  of  the  individual,  were 
obviously  ill-adapted  to  direct  the  proper  sort  of  reaction 
to  a  unique  situation.  Indeed,  new  experiences  crowded 
upon  one  another  with  such  rapidity  that  the  temporary 
compromise  of  habit  had  often  to  supplant  the  more  con- 
servative guide, — instinct.  Every  moment  brings  neces- 
sities which  must  often  be  satisfied  at  once.  Early  men 
experienced  need,  and  it  was  followed  at  once  by  a  blun- 
dering effort  to  satisfy  it.  For  example,  mere  instinct 
could  not  be  depended  upon  to  solve  the  problem  of 
a  warlike  expedition.  By  trial  and  failure,  new  ways 
were  devised;  they  were  often  clumsy  and  blundering 

e  Gumplowicz,  op.  cit.,  pp.  156,  160. 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  177 

efforts  to  satisfy  the  need  that  instinct  could  not 
gratify.  It  is  the  method  of  rude  experiment  and 
selection  which  produces  repeated  pain,  loss,  and  dis- 
appointment. "The  earliest  efforts  of  men  were  of 
this  kind.  Need  was  the  impelling  force.  Pleasure 
and  pain,  on  the  one  side  and  the  other,  were  the 
rude  constraints  which  defined  the  line  on  which  efforts 
must  proceed.  The  ability  to  distinguish  between  pleas- 
ure and  pain  is  the  only  psychical  power  which  is  to  be 
assumed.  Thus  ways  of  doing  things  were  selected, 
which  were  expedient.  They  answered  the  purpose  bet- 
ter than  other  ways,  or  with  less  toil  and  pain.  Along 
the  course  which  efforts  were  compelled  to  go,  habit, 
routine,  and  skill  were  developed.  The  struggle  to  main- 
tain existence  was  carried  on  individually  but  in  groups. 
Each  profited  by  the  other's  experience;  hence  there 
was  concurrence  towards  that  which  proved  to  be  most 
expedient.  All,  at  last,  adopted  the  same  way  for 
the  same  purpose;  hence  ways  turned  into  customs  and 
became  mass  phenomena.  Instincts  were  developed  in 
connection  with  them.  In  this  way  folkways  arise.  The 
young  learn  them  by  tradition,  imitation,  and  authority. 
The  folkways,  at  a  time,  provide  for  all  the  needs  of  life 
then  and  there.  They  are  uniform,  universal  in  the 
group,  imperative,  and  invariable.  As  time  goes  on,  the 
folkways  become  more  and  more  arbitrary,  positive,  and 
imperative.  If  asked  why  they  act  in  a  certain  way  in 
certain  cases,  primitive  people  always  answer  that  it  is 
because  they  and  their  ancestors  always  have  done  so. 
A  sanction  also  arises  from  ghost  fear.  The  ghosts 
would  be  angry  if  the  living  should  change  the  ancient 
folkways."7 

TSumner,  W.  G.-^-Folkways,  1006,  pp.  2-3. 


178  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

By  this  process  of  trial  and  failure,  followed  by  the 
selection  of  those  reactions  which  give  the  closest  rela- 
tion of  means  to  ends,  greatest  satisfaction,  channels  of 
habit  and  predisposition  are  formed.  Moreover,  the 
oftener  any  action  is  repeated,  the  more  firmly  it  becomes 
established  and  the  less  the  conscious  equivalent  accom- 
panying the  action.  The  customary  actions  which  are  of 
frequent  repetition  become  entirely  unconscious.  Thus 
it  is  that  animals  and  human  beings  form  habits.8  Since 
consciousness  of  an  action  decreases  with  frequent  repe- 
tition, its  performance  becomes  so  habitual  that  omission 
or  contrary  action  releases  strong  emotions,  usually  feel- 
ings of  intense  displeasure.  For  example,  if  you  acquire 
the  habit  of  taking  a  nap  after  luncheon  you  find  real 
pleasure  in  taking  the  nap,  indeed  you  will  become  drowsy 
soon  after  the  meal  hour  has  passed  even  though  some- 
thing may  interfere  with  your  usual  routine.  It  is  only 
after  feelings  of  displeasure  that  you  will  admit  any  in- 
ference. The  longer  you  keep  the  habit  the  greater  the 
will  power  required  to  overcome  your  disposition  to  take 
your  accustomed  nap. 

Now  the  process  of  custom  forming  is  similar  to  that 
of  habit  forming  and  the  same  psychological  laws  are 
involved.  When  activities  dictated  by  habit  are  per- 
formed by  a  large  number  of  individuals  in  company  and 
simultaneously,  the  individual  habit  is  converted  into 
mass  phenomenon  or  custom  if  the  group  shows  concur- 
rent action  in  response  to  the  same  stimulus.  These 
usages,  customs  or  folkways,  as  the  case  may  be,  once 
established,  form  the  standards  of  correct  and  proper 
conduct  of  life  in  society.  As  in  the  case  of  the  individual 
habit,  so  with  the  social  usage,  repetition  increases  the 

sMcDougall,  W. — An  Introduction  to  Social  Psychology,  1908,  pp.  29,  43. 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY 


179 


ease  of  performance,  and  frequent  performance  of  the 
custom  increases  its  permanence  and  rigidity.  Just  as  in 
the  case  of  the  individual  habit,  with  which  interruption 


From  "  L'Anthropologie.  " 

FIGURE  G3.     Deformation  of  Features  by  Congo  Natives 
in  submission  to  approved  Styles. 

of  its  usual  course  brings  feelings  of  displeasure,  so  in 
the  case  of  social  usage,  deviation  from  the  customary 
performance  of  the  act  sets  free  emotions  of  anger  or 
intense  displeasure  which  may  cause  the  punishment  or 
persecution  of  the  innovator.  Custom  in  dress  is  often 
quite  arbitrary.9  To  appear  on  the  street  in  the  fashion 

»  See   figure   63. 


180  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

of  a  former  century  would  be  to  expose  oneself  to  ridi- 
cule. 

It  nettles  us  to  see  a  man  wear  a  hat  in  doors  in  com- 
pany with  a  lady ;  it  is  considered  rude.  We  would  feel 
vigorous  resentment  towards  any  man  who  would  wear 
a  hat  in  a  church  or  at  a  funeral.  To  smack  one's  lips 
at  the  table  seems  to  us  disgusting.  Yet  the  Indians 
consider  it  the  height  of  bad  taste  not  to  smack  one's 
lips  when  dining  with  a  friend,  for  it  would  suggest  that 
the  guest  did  not  enjoy  the  meal.10  Thus  the  criterion  of 
propriety  of  all  human  action  is  custom. 

"A  mode  of  behavior  that  does  not  conform  to  the 
customary  manners,  but  differs  from  them  in  a  striking 
way,  creates,  on  the  whole,  unpleasant  emotions;  and  it 
requires  a  determined  effort  on  our  part  to  make  it  clear 
to  ourselves  that  such  behavior  does  not  conflict  with 
moral  standards.  .  .  .  The  custom  of  habitually  covering 
parts  of  the  body  has  at  all  times  led  to  the  strong  feel- 
ing that  exposure  of  such  parts  is  immodest.  This  feel- 
ing of  propriety  is  so  erratic,  that  a  costume  that  is 
appropriate  on  one  occasion  may  be  considered  oppro- 
brious on  other  occasions;  as,  for  instance,  a  low-cut 
evening  dress  in  a  street-car  during  business  hours. 
What  kind  of  exposure  is  felt  as  immodest  depends  al- 
ways upon  fashion.  .  .  .  There  is  no  conscious  reason- 
ing why  the  one  form  is  proper,  the  other  improper; 
but  the  feeling  is  aroused  directly  by  the  contrast  with 
the  customary."11 

If  our  ideas  of  what  constitutes  good  manners,  what  is 
proper  and  in  good  taste,  are  entirely  due  to  custom,  it 
follows  that  where  the  life  experiences  of  groups  differ, 

10  Boas,  The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man,  p.  213. 

11  Boas,  op.  cit.,  pp.  211-212. 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  181 

their  customs  and  usages  will  differ,  and  consequently 
there  will  be  diverse  standards  in  widely  separated  lo- 
calities. This  is  just  the  case.  The  Eskimo  regarded 
it  as  his  duty  to  kill  his  aged  parent.  We  have  been 
reared  under  conditions  which  have  been  much  less  rig- 
orous ;  consequently  we  regard  the  act  with  abhorrence ; 
it  is  positively  immoral  to  us.  In  Australia,  a  girl  con- 
siders that  honor  requires  her  to  be  knocked  down  and 
carried  off  by  the  man  who  is  to  become  her  husband. 
If  she  is  the  victim  of  violence  she  is  not  ashamed. 
Eskimo  girls  would  be  ashamed  to  go  away  with  their  hus- 
bands without  crying  and  lamenting,  however  glad  they 
might  be  to  go.  It  shocks  them  to  hear  that  European 
women  publicly  consent  in  church  to  be  wives,  and  then 
go  with  their  husbands  without  pretending  to  regret  it. 
Kaffirs  ridicule  the  Christian  love  marriage.  Where 
polygamy  prevails  women  are  ashamed  to  marry  men 
who  can  afford  only  one  wife;  under  monogamy  they 
think  it  disgraceful  to  marry  men  who  have  other  wives. 
Among  the  Japanese  the  bond  between  child  and  father 
is  regarded  as  most  sacred.  A  man  leaving  father  and 
mother  to  "cleave  to  his  wife"  would  become  a  social 
outcast.  For  this  reason  the  Japanese  consider  the 
Christian  Bible  immoral  and  irreligious.12  We  are  not 
accustomed  to  eat  dogs,  yet  among  some  primitive  peo- 
ples dogs  are  regarded  as  great  delicacies.13  Thus  the 
usages  of  a  people  may  differ  from  those  of  another 
people  to  such  a  degree  that  what  is  proper  and  customary 
with  one  may  be  regarded  as  disgusting  or  immoral  by 
the  other.  There  can  be  no  logical  reason  given  for 
these  differences  in  custom.  Variance  in  standards  of 

12  Sumner,  op.  cit.,  pp.  109-110.  is  fleas,  op.  cit.,  p.  215. 


182  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

propriety  in  different  groups  is  of  purely  traditional 
origin  and  character. 

Professor  Sumner  has  called  this  mass  of  social  usage, 
custom,  tradition,  and  superstition,  which  constitutes  the 
essential  dissimilarity  in  the  cultures  of  two  peoples, 
"folkways."  The  folkways  are  not  creations  of  human 
purpose  and  wit;  they  are  produced  by  the  frequent 
repetition  of  petty  acts,  often  by  great  numbers  acting  in 
concert,  or,  at  least,  acting  in  the  same  way  when  face 
to  face  with  the  same  need.  This  process  produces  habit 
in  the  individual  and  custom  in  the  group.  The  folkways 
are  like  the  instinctive  ways  of  animals,  which  develop 
out  of  experience  and  are  handed  down  by  tradition  ad- 
mitting of  no  exception  or  variation,  yet  changing  slowly 
within  the  same  limited  methods,  and  without  rational 
reflection  or  purpose.14  The  folkways  constitute  that 
mass  of  social  usage  which  controls  all  unconscious  re- 
sponse to  stimulus  and  action  in  accordance  with  custom. 
We  become  aware  of  folkways  only  when  the  usual 
performance  of  the  act  is  interfered  with  or  when  the 
act  is  performed  in  violation  of  the  custom.  Thus,  wear- 
ing a  hat  in  church  violates  the  folkway  which  has  ac- 
customed us  to  seeing  men  sit  uncovered  in  such  places. 
It  would  be  a  mistake  to  think  that  this  process  of  making 
folkways  is  ever  superseded  or  changed.  It  goes  on  now 
just  as  it  did  at  the  beginning  of  life  in  human  society.15 
Use  and  wont  exert  their  force  on  all  men  always.  They 
produce  familiarity,  and  mass  acts  become  unconscious. 
In  modern  times  the  factory  system  has  created  a  body 
of  folkways  in  which  artisans  live,  and  which  distinguish 
the  atmosphere  of  factory  towns  from  that  of  commercial 
cities  or  agricultural  villages. 

« Ibid.,  pp.  3-4.  is  Ibid.,  p.  35. 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  1S3 

There  is  another  level  in  consciousness  which  customs 
and  usages  attain.  Certain  folkways  become  the  objects 
of  thought  when  one  group,  through  contact  with  another, 
comes  to  recognize  that  in  certain  details  its  customs 
differ  from  those  of  its  neighbor.  Conscious  reflection 
is  provoked,  and,  as  a  result,  certain  folkways  are  pre- 
served and  inculcated.  These  selected  folkways  become 
the  mores.10  Mores  are  the  usages  which  have  received 
the  definite  and  positive  commendation  of  the  group. 
The  sanction  back  of  them  is  more  than  the  sanction  of 
mere  use  and  wont,  it  is  the  sanction  of  conscious  com- 
munity approval.  And  yet,  "The  mores  contain  the 
norm  by  which,  if  we  should  discuss  the  mores,  we  should 
have  to  judge  the  mores."17  The  mores  come  down  to 
us  from  the  past  in  the  same  manner  as  folkways  and 
other  customs.  "Each  individual  is  born  into  them  as 
he  is  born  into  the  atmosphere,  and  he  does  not  reflect 
on  them,  or  criticize  them  any  more  than  a  baby  analyzes 
the  atmosphere  before  he  begins  to  breathe  it.  Each  one 
is  subjected  to  the  influence  of  the  mores,  and  formed  by 
them,  before  he  is  capable  of  reasoning  about  them."  1S 
For  this  reason  the  mores  determine  the  content  of  the 
growing  mind,  and  so  if  one  were  to  criticize  them  he 
would  have  to  use  in  that  criticism  terms  and  traditions 
which  the  mores  themselves  had  given  current  circula- 
tion. This  is  why  the  discussion  of  such  established  in- 
stitutions as  property  and  marriage  does  not  immedi- 
ately change  our  relations.  Among  the  masses  of  people 
such  a  discussion  produces  no  controversy.  It  is  only 
among  those  who  have  emancipated  themselves  from  the 
control  of  habit  and  custom  that  there  is  sufficient  in- 
dependence of  thought  upon  these  subjects  to  provoke 

i«Chapin,  op.  tit.,  p.  76.        IT  Sumner,  op.  cit.,  p.  77.      i8  Ibid.,  p.  76. 


184  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

controversy.  For  the  great  masses  of  mankind,  mores 
are  learned  as  unconsciously  as  we  learn  to  walk  and  eat 
and  breathe.  The  justification  of  them  is  that  upon 
awakening  to  consciousness  the  individual  finds  the 
mores  facts  which  already  hold  him  in  the  bonds  of  tra- 
dition, custom,  and  habit. 

To  those  composing  the  narrow  margin  of  exception- 
ally rational  and  critical  individuals,  the  mores  are  often 
a  stumbling  block  of  stupid  insensibility,  receiving  their 
scorn  and  impatient  anger.  From  this  class  emanate  the 
original  ideas  which,  when  put  into  current  circulation 
and  given  the  stamp  of  public  approval,  slowly  change 
the  mores.  For  example,  the  comparatively  new  idea  of 
evolution  had  at  first  a  rather  limited  diffusion  among 
the  intellectual  class.  Gradually,  the  idea  has  filtered 
down  through  the  mores  of  the  masses,  and,  being  rubbed 
down  and  smoothed  off  like  an  old  coin,  has  taken  the 
form  of  a  summary  and  glib  generalization  that  "men 
came  from  monkeys."  The  philosophical  implication  of 
the  theory  of  evolution  that  there  is  only  relativity  in  the 
changing  flux  of  life  processes,  never  any  absolute  stand- 
ard of  relations,  is  quite  beyond  the  realm  of  mores. 
The  domain  of  mores  is  one  of  fixed  forms  and  inert  cus- 
toms. Mores  are  answers  to  the  problems  of  life  and  not 
questions.  Hence  a  world  philosophy  which  represents  it- 
self as  transitory,  certainly  incomplete,  and  liable  to  be  set 
aside  to-morrow  by  more  knowledge,  can  never  receive 
very  widespread  recognition.  The  majority  of  men  want 
their  conduct  and  thought  guided  by  established  rules 
and  customs.  They  prefer  to  do  and  think  with  their 
fathers  before  them.  To  do  anything  else  would  require 
too  great  a  mental  effort. 


SOCIAL  HEEEDITY  185 

From  earliest  times  mores  have  been  inculcated  and 
taught.  It  has  ever  been  one  of  the  chief  functions  of 
education  of  the  young  to  perpetuate  the  mores  of  the 
group.19  The  mores  were  familiar  forms  associated  with 
group  safety.  The  chief  object  of  the  brutally  conducted 
initiation  ceremonies  of  the  natives  of  southeast  Aus- 
tralia is  to  impress  upon  the  boy  the  importance  of  the 
tribal  traditions.20  In  primitive  society  children  are  con- 
stantly exhorted  to  follow  the  example  of  their  parents 
in  following  the  usages  of  the  group.21  Indeed,  we  must 
"not  forget  that  the  immemorial  device  of  stationary 
societies  to  preserve  their  ancient  order  has  been  to  steep 
the  young  in  certain  traditional  wisdom/'22  The  Insti- 
tutes of  Manu  preserve  the  religious  mores  of  the  Hindoo. 
The  Chinese  Li-Ki,  or  Book  of  Bites,  of  the  Confucian 
text,  illustrates  the  effort  to  preserve  mores.  Here, 
from  the  rinsing  of  the  mouth  to  the  adjustment  of  one's 
leggings  and  shoe-strings,  all  acts  are  to  be  regulated 
in  strict  accordance  with  usage.  Suetonius  writes  of  the 
customary  education  of  the  Roman  youth  and  finds  fault 
with  the  new  discipline  of  the  Latin  Rhetoricians  which 
interfered  with  the  customary  instruction  approved  by 
"our  ancestors."23  Narrow  and  restricted  religious 
mores  were  inculcated  by  the  educational  systems  of  the 
Middle  Ages.24  At  the  present  time  the  content  of  the 
elementary  school  curricula  of  modern  nations  is  largely 
one  of  traditional  subjects.25 

The  perpetuation  of  this  social  heritage  of  folkways 

i"  Chapin,  op.  dt.,  ch.  iii. 

20  Howitt,  A.  W. — The  Native  Tribes  of  Southeast  Australia,  pp.  530-542. 

21  Boas,  op.  oil.,  p.  224. 

22  Ross,  E.  A.— Social  Control,  p.  165. 

23  Suetonius,  The  Lives  of  Eminent  Rhetoricians,  pp.  524-525,  Thomson 
trans.  24  Chapin,  op.  cit.,  p.  56.  25  ibid.,  ch.  v. 


186  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

and  mores,  custom  and  tradition,  is  by  suggestion  and 
imitation  as  well  as  by  conscious  inculcation.  Under  the 
conditions  of  life  in  primitive  groups  as  well  as  under 
the  more  complex  relations  of  modern  society,  men  com- 
municate with  one  another  by  rudimentary  or  developed 
methods  of  intercourse.  In  either  case  the  same  funda- 
mental law  of  social  psychology  holds.  The  possibility 
of  communication  depends  upon  the  density  of  popula- 
tion, and  also  upon  the  degree  of  development  of  the 
means  of  communication  and  the  use  made  of  those  means. 
Where  the  population  is  relatively  dense  and  people  live 
in  close  touch  with  one  another  the  spread  of  ideas  is 
rapid.  Isolated  communities  do  not  receive  the  new 
ideas  for  a  long  time.  Hence  it  is  that  in  style  of  dress 
the  country  people  always  tend  to  be  behind  the  city 
people.  If  the  means  of  communication  are  highly  devel- 
oped, then,  even  though  the  population  is  not  dense, 
ideas  and  news  will  spread  rapidly.  For  example,  the 
telegraph  spread  the  news  of  the  battles  of  the  Chinese- 
Japanese  War,  some  years  ago,  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  our  country  so  that  every  little  hamlet  knew 
of  the  happenings  and  discussed  them,  whereas  in  China, 
many  of  the  people  living  at  a  comparatively  short  dis- 
tance from  the  scene  of  the  conflict  did  not  even  know  that 
their  country  was  engaged  in  war;  and  yet  China  was 
much  more  thickly  populated  than  the  United  States.  In 
primitive  society,  the  possession  of  superior  language 
and  the  great  facility  in  the  use  of  this  language,  gave 
to  one  group  the  means  of  an  intercourse  which  an  in- 
ferior group  lacked.  It  gave  unity  and  coherence  to  its 
organization  and  furthered  its  development. 

The  most  heightened  phase  of  communication  which 
rests  on  density  of  population  is  known  as  "The  Crowd." 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  187 

In  the  crowd,  the  close  grouping  of  people,  the  shoulder 
to  shoulder  contact,  furnishes  a  dense  medium  for  the 
transmission  of  ideas  and  notions.  In  crowds,  men  and 
women  are  subject  to  swift  contagion  of  feeling.  Ideas 
spread  like  lightning.  Suggestibility  is  heightened,  for 
example,  when  a  wave  of  applause  sweeps  over  an  audi- 
ence. Thus  crowds  are  impulsive,  mobile,  credulous,  and 
readily  influenced  by  suggestion.  The  images  invoked 
in  the  mind  of  the  crowd  are  accepted  as  realities. 
Crowds  do  not  admit  of  doubt  or  uncertainty ;  they  always 
go  to  extremes.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  morality  of 
crowds,  according  to  the  suggestions  under  which  they 
act,  may  be  much  higher  or  lower  than  the  morality  of 
the  individuals  composing  them.26  The  emotional  na- 
ture, the  rapid  contagion  of  feeling,  the  close  contact,  all 
tend  to  force  upon  the  individual  a  sense  of  invincible 
power.  The  individual  loses  all  sense  of  personal  re- 
sponsibility. He  becomes  merged  with  the  crowd,  and, 
as  men  are  more  alike  emotionally  than  intellectually,  the 
individual  loses  his  identity.  The  feeling  of  responsi- 
bility which  controls  individuals  when  alone,  disappears 
in  the  wild  gusts  of  passion  that  sweep  over  the  mob. 
The  individual  does  things  and  gives  way  to  impulses 
which  if  alone  he  would  have  controlled.  Thus  in  the 
crowd,  all  the  conditions  which  determine  the  degree  of 
communication  are  intensified,  with  the  result  that  im- 
pulsive and  emotional  activity  goes  beyond  the  bounds 
that  are  under  normal  conditions  set  by  rational  control. 
When  the  community  is  densely  populated  and  means 
of  communication  have  been  developed  whereby  usages 
are  perpetuated  and  new  ideas  spread,  the  further  trans- 

26  Giddings,  F.  H. — Democracy  and  Empire,  p.  56;  and  Le  Bon,  G. — The 
Crowd. 


188  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

mission  of  intelligence  depends  upon  suggestion  and  imi- 
tation. Suggestion  is  a  process  of  communication  result- 
ing in  the  acceptance  with  conviction  of  the  communicated 
proposition  in  the  absence  of  logically  adequate  grounds 
for  its  acceptance.27  Suggestion  is  an  incitement  to  act 
that  is  implanted  or  aroused,  while  the  individual  affected 
remains  unaware  of  ^what  is  happening.28  The  sugges- 
tion does  not  have  to  take  the  shape  of  formal  language; 
it  may  be  conveyed  by  mere  gesture  or  interjection. 
During  the  Great  Plague  in  London  when  in  the  streets 
lay  heaps  of  dead  bodies  and  the  terrified  imagination  of 
the  poor  people  furnished  them  with  all  sorts  of  wild  ma- 
terial to  work  upon,  half-crazed  persons  thought  they 
saw  apparitions  of  flaming  swords  held  in  the  air  above 
the  city.  A  woman  pointed  to  an  angel  clothed  in  white, 
and  brandishing  a  sword  over  his  head.  She  described  it 
with  such  realism  that  the  crowd  about  her  believed,  and, 
"Yes!  I  see  it  plainly,  says  one,  there's  the  sword  as 
plain  as  can  be;  another  saw  the  angel;  one  saw  his 
very  face  and  cried  out,  What  a  glorious  creature  he 
was!  One  saw  one  thing  and  one  another.  I  looked 
as  earnestly  as  the  rest,  but,  perhaps,  not  with  so  much 
willingness  to  be  imposed  upon;  and  I  said  indeed,  that 
I  could  see  nothing,  but  a  white  cloud,  bright  upon  one 
side,  by  the  shining  of  the  sun  on  the  other  part.  The 
woman  endeavored  to  show  it  to  me,  but  could  not  make 
me  confess  that  I  saw  it,  which,  indeed,  if  I  had,  I  must 
have  lied  .  .  .  she  turned  to  me,  called  me  a  profane 
fellow,  and  a  scoffer,  told  me  that  it  was  a  time  of  God's 
anger,  and  dreadful  judgments  were  approaching,  and 
that  despisers,  such  as  I,  should  wonder  and  perish. ' ' 20 

27  McDougall,  Social  Psychology,  p.  97. 

28  Giddings,  Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology,  p.  145. 

2»  Daniel  De  Foe — A  Journal  of  the  Plague  Year,  pp.  25-28. 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  189 

This  illustration  shows  that  all  people  are  not  equally 
subject  to  suggestion.  "Suggestibility"  varies  not  only 
according  to  the  topic  and  according  to  the  source  from 
which  the  proposition  is  communicated,  but  also  with 
the  condition  of  the  subject's  brain  from  hour  to  hour. 
"The  least  degree  of  suggestibility  is  that  of  a  wide- 
awake, self-reliant  man  of  settled  convictions,  possessing 
a  large  store  of  systematically  organized  knowledge 
which  he  habitually  brings  to  bear  in  criticism  of  all 
statements  made  to  him."30 

The  degree  of  suggestibility  is  affected  by  the  follow- 
ing conditions:31 

(1)  Abnormal  states  of  the  brain,  such  as  hysteria, 
hypnosis;  normal  sleep,  and  fatigue.    Under  these  con- 
ditions individuals  readily  respond  to  suggestions  which 
in  normal  waking  hours  they  would  ignore. 

(2)  Deficiency  of  knowledge  or  convictions  relating  to 
the  topic  in  regard  to  which  the  suggestion  is  made,  and 
an  imperfect  organization  of  knowledge.     The  layman 
gives  credence  to,  and  acts  upon,  the  suggestion  of  the 
churchman  or  the   scientist  because   the  matters   with 
which  the  churchman  and  the  scientist  deal  are  beyond 
the  scope  of  his  information. 

(3)  The   impressive   character   of  the   source   from 
which  the  suggested  proposition  is  communicated.     The 
child  receives  as  true  the  stories  which  a  parent  tells  it. 
The  populace  believes  the  prophecy  of  a  leader. 

(4)  Peculiarities  of  character  and  native  disposition 
of  the  subject.     Emotional  people,  or  those  of  unstable 
nervous  temperament,  are  more  liable  to  act  with  great 
credulity  upon  the  most  extravagant  suggestion,  than 

so  McDougall,  op.  cit.,  pp.  97-98.  si  Hid. 


190  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

are  people  of  a  more  matter-of-fact  turn  of  mind.  The 
negro's  openness  to  suggestions  of  a  mysteriously  reli- 
gious sort  is  an  illustration. 

Customs  are  perpetuated  by  suggestion  in  so  far  as  the 
usages  of  a  group  are  communicated  from  one  member  to 
another  by  inciting  persons  to  perform  customary  acts 
without  being  aware  that  they  are  following  a  particular 
method.  But  the  social  heritage  of  community  usages 
is  preserved  and  learned  by  imitation  also.  The  copying 
by  one  individual  of  the  actions,  the  gestures,  the  bodily 
movements  of  another,  is  imitation.  The  most  brilliant 
study  of  the  effect  of  imitation  upon  the  activities  of  men, 
was  made  by  Gabriel  Tarde  in  his  book,  "The  Laws  of 
Imitation."  Tarde,  however,  does  not  clearly  distin- 
guish between  imitation  and  suggestion.  It  is  true  that 
suggestion  blends  into  imitation,  that  imitation  is  a 
process  similar  in  general  to  suggestion,  the  principle 
difference  being  one  of  degree  of  consciousness.  Some 
imitative  acts  attain  a  higher  level  in  consciousness  than 
those  which  result  from  suggestion.  We  are  conscious 
of  the  act  which  invites  imitation,  but  not  aware  of  the 
incitement  to  act  aroused  by  suggestion.  Tarde  uses 
the  word  imitation  to  cover  a  whole  range  of  acts  which 
are  a  result  of  both  imitation  and  suggestion. 

Imitation  is  a  conservative  force  as  well  as  a  progres- 
sive force.  It  is  a  conservative  force  in  so  far  as  it  leads 
each  generation  to  imitate  its  ancestors  and  to  preserve 
with  but  little  change  the  usages  and  the  customs  of  its 
forefathers.  Imitation  is  a  progressive  force  when  ideas 
generated  by  exceptionally  gifted  persons  within  the  peo- 
ple spread  throughout  the  whole  group.  Imitation  acts 
also  as  a  factor  in  progress  when  ideas  and  practices 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  191 

of  one  people  spread  by  imitation  to  another  people.32 
The  imitation  of  one  people  by  another  has  been  a  prin- 
cipal condition  of  the  progress  of  civilization  in  all  its 
stages.  The  peoples  of  western  Europe  imitated  the 
Romans,  their  religion,  their  laws,  their  architecture  and 
their  material  civilization.  The  Romans  imitated  the 
Grecian  world  which  they  had  conquered.  In  modern 
times  Japan  has  deliberately  imitated  certain  features 
of  European  civilization. 

Imitation  tends  to  spread  in  geometrical  progression.33 
The  spread  of  any  culture  element,  a  belief,  an  art,  a 
convention,  a  sentiment,  a  habit  or  attitude  of  mind  of 
any  kind,  tends  to  proceed  in  geometrical  progression, 
because  each  individual  or  body  of  individuals  that  imi- 
tate the  new  idea  and  embody  it  in  practice,  becomes  the 
center  of  radiation  of  the  idea  to  all  communicating  in- 
dividuals or  groups.  Moreover,  with  each  step  in  the 
spread  of  the  idea  over  a  wider  area  to  larger  numbers 
of  people,  the  power  of  mass-suggestion  grows.34  The 
rate  of  spread  is  marvelous.  A  new  style  of  wearing  the 
hair,  such  games  as  ping-pong  and  diabolo,  appear  mys- 
teriously, become  all  the  rage  for  a  period,  then  disap- 
pear as  suddenly  as  they  came.  Naturally  this  spread 
of  imitation  is  conditioned  by  the  density  of  population, 
the  degree  of  development  of  the  means  of  communica- 
tion, and  the  use  made  of  those  means.  Because  of  this 
law  of  imitation,  a  higher  degree  of  cultural  uniformity 
is  possible  in  the  United  States  than  in  Africa.  Local 
dialects  are  gradually  passing  away  in  civilized  nations. 

It  is  owing  to  contra-imitation  that  fashions  are  so 

ssMcDougall,  op.  tit.,  pp.  334-335. 

ss  Tarde,  G. — The  Laws  of  Imitation,  Parsons  trans.,  2nd.  ed.,  pp.  19-20, 
115.  s^McDougall,  op.  cit.,  p.  33G. 


192  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

fleeting,  for,  as  soon  as  a  fashion  has  spread  to  a  certain 
proportion  of  the  total  population,  the  operation  is  re- 
versed and  contra-imitation  begins  to  make  for  its  aboli- 
tion and  replacement  by  another.  For  example,  the 
stylish  mistress  will  not  continue  to  wear  the  new  shape 
of  hat,  however  becoming  to  her,  after  the  colored  cook 
and  her  humbler  neighbors  have  begun  to  imitate  it. 
Each  person  is  moved  not  alone  by  the  prestige  of  those 
whom  he  imitates,  but  also  by  the  desire  to  be  different 
from  the  mass  who  have  not  yet  adopted  the  style.  Most 
Englishmen  would  scorn  to  kiss  and  embrace  one  another 
or  to  gesticulate  freely,  if  only  because  Frenchmen  do 
these  things ;  they  would  not  wear  their  hair  either  long 
or  very  closely  cropped,  because  Germans  do  so.  Thus 
contra-imitation  makes  societies  homogeneous.35 

Although  imitation  spreads  in  all  directions  in  geo- 
metrical progression,  it  spreads  most  easily  and  most 
rapidly  from  above  to  below,  from  the  higher  to  the 
lower  social  classes.36  "Given  the  opportunity,  a  nobil- 
ity will  always  and  everywhere  imitate  its  leaders,  its 
kings  or  suzerains,  and  the  people,  likewise,  given  the  op- 
portunity, its  nobility."37  The  impression  must  come, 
from  a  source  enjoying  prestige,  an  individual  or  a  col- 
lective personality  that  is  stronger,  more  complex,  or 
more  highly  developed.  "But  in  reality,  the  thing  that 
is  most  imitated  is  the  most  superior  one  of  those  that 
are  nearest.  In  fact,  the  influence  of  the  model's  ex- 
ample is  efficacious  inversely  to  its  distance  as  well  as 
directly  to  its  superiority.  Distance  is  understood  here 
in  its  sociological  meaning.  However  distant  in  space 
a  stranger  may  be,  he  is  close  by,  from  this  point  of 
view,  if  we  have  numerous  and  daily  relations  with 

«s/6td.  soTarde,  op.  cit.,  pp.  215-224.  si  Ibid.,  p.  217. 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  193 

him  and  if  we  have  every  facility  to  satisfy  our  de- 
sire to  imitate  him.  This  law  of  the  imitation  of  the 
nearest,  of  the  least  distant,  explains  the  gradual  and 
consecutive  character  of  the  spread  of  an  example  that 
has  been  set  by  the  highest  social  ranks.  We  may  infer, 
as  its  corollary,  when  we  see  a  lower  class  setting  itself 
to  imitating  for  the  first  time  a  much  higher  class,  that 
the  distance  between  the  two  has  diminished."38 
Whether  the  ideas  of  an  individual  shall  be  accepted  by 
his  fellow-countrymen  depends  not  so  much  upon  the  na- 
ture of  those  ideas  as  upon  the  degree  of  prestige  which 
that  individual  has  or  can  secure.  For  example,  a  far- 
sighted  social  reformer  who  has  given  years  of  study  to 
some  problem  of  great  importance  to  a  community,  may 
not  get  a  hearing  with  the  most  interested  party,  the 
public,  while  some  political  demagogue,  who  boasts  party 
achievements,  may  secure  attention. 

An  idea  or  a  practice,  once  imitated  by  a  people,  tends 
to  spread  to  the  maximum  extent  possible  under  the 
given  conditions  of  society.  It  tends  to  reach  a  maxi- 
mum degree  of  diffusion  or  saturation,  and  only  recedes 
or  disappears  under  the  influence  of  some  newly  intro- 
duced antagonistic  rival. 

The  imitation  of  one  person  by  another  or  of  one  social 
class  by  another,  does  not  result  in  precise  reduplication 
of  the  practice.  That  is,  imitation  is  never  exact.  There 
is  always  some  individual  variation,  some  improvement 
or  some  neglected  aspect  of  the  model.  This  is  what  is 
meant  by  saying  that  imitation  is  refracted  by  its  media. 
The  cook  does  not  imitate  exactly  the  hat  of  her  mistress. 
She  gets  the  general  effect  of  the  stylish  shape,  but  the 
hat  is  reproduced  in  cheaper  material.  Imitations  are 

p.  224, 


194  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

modified  by  passing  from  one  race  to  another.  Myths 
are  changed  in  this  way.39 

For  a  time  the  course  of  imitation  is  between  the  past 
and  the  present.  Then  the  current  changes,  and  the 
course  of  imitation  is  between  contemporaries.  For 
what  Tarde  calls  "custom  imitation"  is  substituted 
4 'fashion  imitation."40  "To  down-transmission  or 
social  heredity  succeeds  cross-imitation  or  conventional- 
ity. In  the  latter  period  the  old  is  distrusted  and  the 
new  has  the  presumption  in  its  favor.  In  the  former 
period  the  recent  is  weak,  the  presumption  is  with  the 
ancient,  and  the  maxim  of  statesmanship  is,  Let  things 
alone."*1  Custom  and  fashion  imitation  are  in  opera- 
tion simultaneously,  only  in  different  parts  of  the  social 
system.  Usually,  however,  custom  imitation  is  the  more 
prevalent  and  the  more  powerful  of  the  two  forms.  For, 
"Imitation  .  .  .  that  is  engaged  in  the  currents  of 
fashion  is  but  a  very  feeble  stream  compared  with  the 
great  torrent  of  custom."42  Thus,  for  men  to  change 
slightly  the  fashion  of  their  trousers  by  wearing  a  cuff 
on  the  end  of  each  pantaloon  leg,  invokes  comparatively 
little  discussion,  but  an  attempt  to  revert  to  the  colonial 
habit  of  short  knee  breeches  and  silk  stockings,  would 
rouse  no  end  of  objection  and  criticism.  The  one  is 
merely  a  change  in  fashion  imitation,  the  other  would  be 
an  interruption  of  custom  imitation. 

Imitation  modifies  a  people's  civilization  in  one  of  two 
ways,  by  substitution  or  accumulation.43  The  new  cul- 
ture element  spreads  by  imitation  among  the  people  and 
either  conflicts  with,  drives  out,  and  supplants  some  older 

so  Hid.,  p.  22. 

tolbiii.,  ch.  vii.  **  Tarde,  op.  cit.,  p.  244. 

4i  Ross,  op.  cit.,  p.  187.  *3  McDougall,  op.  cit.,  p.  336. 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  195 

traditional  elements  or  constitutes  an  extension,  com- 
plication, and  enrichment  of  the  existing  tradition. 
Norman-French  was  largely  imitated  by  the  English 
people,  and  so  became  in  large  part  incorporated  with 
the  English  language.  The  religion  of  Buddha  was 
adopted  by  the  Japanese  people,  and  partially  fused  with 
rather  than  supplanted,  their  national  Shinto  religion  of 
ancestor-worship.44  In  this  way  the  new  is  amalgamated 
with  the  old,  and  usages  or  traditions  change  very  gradu- 
ally under  the  strain  of  meeting  new  conditions  and  new 
needs.  But  in  the  change  the  ascendancy  of  the  old  form 
still  immensely  outweighs  the  prestige  of  recent  innova- 
tions. "  Passive  obedience  to  ancestral  orders,  customs, 
and  influence,  comes  to  be  not  replaced,  but  neutralized 
in  part,  by  submission  to  the  pressure,  advice,  and  sug- 
gestions of  contemporaries.  In  acting  according  to  these 
last-named  motives,  the  modern  man  flatters  himself  that 
he  is  making  a  free  choice  of  the  propositions  that  are 
made  to  him,  whereas,  in  reality,  the  one  that  he  welcomes 
and  follows  is  the  one  that  meets  his  preexistent  wants 
and  desires,  wants  and  desires  which  are  the  outcome  of 
his  habits  and  customs,  of  his  whole  past  of  obedience."  45 
With  regard  to  this  point  Professor  Boas  reminds  us 
that  we  are  only  too  apt  to  forget  entirely  the  general, 
and,  for  most  of  us,  the  purely  traditional  basis  of  our 
reasoning,  and  to  assume  that  our  conclusions  are  abso- 
lute truth.  In  so  doing  we  commit  the  error  of  less 
civilized  peoples.  They  are  more  easily  satisfied  than 
we  are  of  the  truth  of  their  conclusions.  Their  fallacy 
lies  in  assuming  the  truth  of  the  traditional  element  which 
enters  into  their  explanations;  consequently  they  accept 


teZ.,  pp.  336-337. 
Tarde,  op.  cit.,  p.  246. 


196  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

as  absolute  truth  the  conclusions  based  upon  this  reason- 
ing.46 

For  these  reasons  the  difference  in  mode  of  thought  of 
primitive  man  and  civilized  man  seems  to  consist  largely 
in  the  difference  of  character  of  the  traditional  material 
with  which  the  new  perception  associates  itself.  When 
a  new  experience  enters  the  savage  mind,  the  same  process 
which  we  observe  among  civilized  men  brings  about  an 
entirely  different  series  of  associations,  and  consequently 
results  in  a  different  type  of  explanation.  A  sudden  ex- 
plosion may  associate  itself  in  the  mind  of  the  savage 
with  tales  which  he  has  heard  of  the  mythical  story  of 
the  world,  and  consequently  will  be  accompanied  by 
superstitious  fear.  The  civilized  man  will  simply  asso- 
ciate the  explosion  with  a  certain  amount  of  powder  or 
dynamite.  Hence  the  explanations  of  the  phenomena 
given  by  the  two  individuals  will  differ.  Among  both 
primitive  and  civilized  groups  the  average  person  does 
not  carry  to  completion  the  attempt  at  causal  explanation 
of  phenomena,  but  carries  it  only  far  enough  to  amalga- 
mate it  with  other  previously  known  facts.  It  is  obvious, 
then,  that  the  character  of  this  traditional  material  de- 
termines the  result  of  the  whole  process.  It  determines 
what  our  interpretation  of  life  experiences  will  be. 
Herein,  also,  lies  the  influence  of  the  dominant  scientific 
theory  upon  the  character  of  scientific  work.47 

''There  is  an  undoubted  tendency  in  the  advance  of 
civilization  to  eliminate  traditional  elements,  and  to  gain 
a  clearer  and  clearer  insight  into  the  hypothetical  basis  of 
our  reasoning.  It  is  therefore  not  surprising,  that,  with 
the  advance  of  civilization,  reasoning  becomes  more  and 
more  logical,  not  because  each  individual  carries  out  his 

46  Boas,  op.  cit.,  pp.  205-206.  &  Ibid.,  pp.  203-204. 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  197 

thought  in  a  more  logical  manner,  but  because  the  tradi- 
tional material  which  is  handed  down  to  each  individual 
has  been  thought  out  and  worked  out  more  thoroughly 
and  more  carefully.  While  in  primitive  civilization  the 
traditional  material  is  doubted  and  examined  by  only  a 
very  few  individuals,  the  number  of  thinkers  who  try  to 
free  themselves  from  the  fetters  of  tradition  increases  as 
civilization  advances. ' ' 48 

It  is  evident  that  custom  imitation  is  the  conservative 
aspect  of  imitation,  and  is  a  much  more  powerful  force 
than  fashion  imitation.  The  former  insures  the  preser- 
vation of  usages,  the  inheritance  of  social  practices.  Im- 
itation is  a  conservative  force  in  so  far  as  it  cooperates 
with  habit.  For  habit  sets  narrow  limits  to  innovations 
which  imitation  would  introduce.  There  is  a  tendency 
for  all  mental  processes  to  become  easier  by  repetition, 
a  tendency  to  the  formation  of  habits  of  thought  which 
become  more  and  more  fixed  in  the  individual  as  he  grows 
older,  a  tendency  of  each  generation  to  imitate  chiefly  its 
predecessor  rather  than  any  foreign  model.49  The  fa- 
miliar, the  local,  the  popular  ways  of  thought  and  action 
are  the  first  presented  to  the  child.  Under  the  influence 
of  these  usages,  a  strong  bias  is  determined,  earliest 
habits  are  formed,  so  that  the  individual  is  already 
molded  to  the  pattern  of  his  class,  his  locality,  when  he 
comes  under  the  influence  of  foreign  models  of  imitation. 
He  is  capable  of  but  little  change,  and,  save  in  a  small 
degree,  is  refractory  to  their  influence. 

This  tendency  to  the  formation  of  habits  and  social 
usages  becomes  a  tendency  to  convert  means  into  ends. 
With  many  persons  not  given  to  reflection  on  and  analy- 
sis of  their  motives,  the  ends  of  their  actions  seldom  come 

48  Ibid.,  p.  206.  49  McDougall,  op.  cit.,  p.  347. 


198  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

clearly  and  explicitly  to  consciousness.  The  actions  of 
these  people  are  largely  determined  by  blind  instinctive 
impulses  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other,  by  simple 
acquiescence  in,  and  imitation  of,  the  kinds  of  activity 
they  see  going  on  about  them.50  Although  many  women 
spend  much  time  and  energy  in  keeping  their  houses  tidy 
and  in  order,  they  fail  to  recognize  the  end  of  this  activ- 
ity, namely,  domestic  comfort  and  happiness.  Dress, 
obviously  a  means  to  the  end  of  keeping  in  bodily  health 
and  comfort,  has  often  become  an  end  in  itself,  for  men 
and  women  array  themselves  in  fantastic  garments  which 
ignore  both  health  and  comfort.503- 

In  collective  thought  and  action  the  tendency  to  con- 
vert means  into  ends  is  marked.  A  member  of  a  group 
is  not  likely  to  raise  any  question  regarding  an  activity 
which  he  finds  faithfully  observed  by  all  his  fellows,  al- 
though he  may  criticize  an  activity  practised  by  only  a 
few  of  his  companions.  Usually,  the  mere  fact  that  his 
fellows  observe  the  practice  is  sufficient  to  put  it  beyond 
criticism  and  to  lead  the  individual  to  regard  it  as  an 
end  in  itself.  This  is  one  of  the  most  important  prin- 
ciples of  the  formation  of  custom.  The  ends  or  pur- 
poses of  many  customs  are  lost  in  the  mists  of  antiquity. 
For  whatever  purpose  it  was  originally  instituted,  a  cus- 
tom when  once  established  becomes  in  some  degree  an 
end  in  itself.  It  is  followed  out  of  mere  habit.  Men  are 
often  prepared  to  maintain  it  at  great  cost  of  effort  and 
discomfort,  long  after  it  ceases  to  serve  any  useful  end. 
For  this  reason  we  find  that  meaningless  rites  continue 
to  surround  almost  all  ancient  institutions.51 

By  means  of  imitation,  practices  tend  to  survive  long 

soMcDotigall,  op.  cit.,  p.  349.  si  ibid.,  p.  350. 

soaSee  figure  G3. 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  199 

after  their  original  significance  has  been  forgotten.  In 
many  cases  the  usages  which  have  survived  the  memory 
of  their  significance,  have  been  interpreted  and  given 
new  meaning  by  generations  that  found  themselves  per- 
forming them  in  blind  obedience  to  tradition.  An  inter- 
esting illustration  of  vestigial  remnants  of  an  earlier  cul- 
ture is  afforded  by  surviving  forms  of  marriage  by  cap- 
ture among  -the  peasantry  of  various  European  coun- 
tries.52 In  parts  of  Europe  there  survives  a  reminis- 
cence of  another  form  of  marriage,  namely,  marriage  by 
purchase.  In  this,  the  bridegroom  gives  to  the  parents 
of  his  bride  a  few  grains  of  corn,  thus  carrying  out  the 
fiction  of  purchase.  Most  of  the  old-fashioned  village 
festivals  are  survivals  of  pagan  rites  and  ceremonies,  by 
means  of  which  our  ancestors  honored  or  propitiated  the . 
spirits  and  divinities  who  were  thought  to  preside  over 
the  processes  of  nature  most  directly  connected  with  their 
well-being.  The  May  Day  festival  is  probably  a  survival 
from  the  rites  by  which  the  people  sought  to  propitiate 
the  spirit  of  the  crop.53 

When  means  are  converted  into  ends,  and  usages  are 
performed  in  blind  obedience  to  tradition  long  after  their 
usefulness  is  past;  when  there  is  a  mass  of  mechanism, 
conventionalism  and  ritualism;  when  the  spirit  and  the 
symbol  are  no  more  vitally  connected,  the  symbol  becom- 
ing an  empty  shell  which  supplants  rather  than  conveys 
reality;  when  customs  become  rigid;  we  reach  a  state  of 
social  organization  which  Professor  Cooley  has  called 
"formalism."  Religion  becomes  formal  as  soon  as 
ritual  ceases  to  be  a  means  to  the  end  of  purity  and  sin- 

S2  Marriage  by  capture  was  an  early  marriage  system  among  primitive 
peoples  in  which  the  male  went  outside  of  his  own  local  group  and  cap- 
tured a  woman  from  some  other  group,  who  thereby  became  his  wife. 

63  Frazer,  J.  F. — The  Golden  Dough. 


200  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

cerity  of  worship,  and  is  regarded  as  an  end  in  itself. 
The  ceremonials  of  religion  were  originally  instituted  to 
edify  our  spiritual  natures,  to  symbolize  high  ideals. 
When  people  follow  these  ancient  rituals  not  so  much 
out  of  a  desire  to  contemplate  high  ideals  of  character 
and  service,  as  to  look  with  curiosity  upon  the  entertain- 
ing ceremony  and  the  fashion  of  others'  attire,  the  prac- 
tice becomes  hollow  and  meaningless.  Formalism  is 
psychically  cheap.  It  substitutes  the  outer  and  the  more 
tangible  for  the  inner  and  the  fleeting.  It  is  capable  of 
being  held  before  the  mind  without  the  strain  of  fresh 
expense  of  thought  and  feeling.  It  is  easily  impressed 
upon  the  multitude.54  Professor  McDougall  sums  up  the 
importance  of  social  heredity  as  follows: 

"The  mental  constitution  of  man  differs  from  that  of 
the  highest  animals  chiefly  in  that  man  has  an  indefinitely 
greater  power  of  learning,  of  profiting  by  experience,  of 
acquiring  new  modes  of  reaction  and  adjustment  to  an 
immense  variety  of  situations.  This  superiority  of  man 
would  seem  to  be  due  in  the  main  to  his  possession  of 
a  very  large  brain,  containing  a  mass  of  plastic  nervous 
tissue  which  exceeds  in  bulk  the  sum  of  the  innately  or- 
ganized parts  and  makes  up  the  principal  part  of  the 
substance  of  the  cerebral  hemispheres.  This  great  brain, 
and  the  immense  capacity  for  mental  adaptation  and 
acquisition  implied  by  it,  must  have  been  evolved  hand 
in  hand  with  the  development  of  man's  social  life, 
and  with  that  of  language,  the  great  agent  and  pro- 
moter of  social  life.  For  to  an  individual  living  apart 
from  any  human  society,  the  greater  part  of  this  brain 
and  of  this  capacity  for  acquisition  would  be  useless 
and  would  lie  dormant  for  lack  of  any  store  of 

s*  Cooley,  op.  cit.,  pp.  342-350. 


SOCIAL  HEREDITY  201 

knowledge,  belief,  and  custom  to  be  acquired  or  as- 
similated. Whereas  animal  species  have  advanced  from 
lower  to  higher  levels  of  mental  life  by  the  improve- 
ment of  the  innate  mental  constitution  of  the  species, 
man,  since  he  became  man,  has  progressed  in  the  main 
by  means  of  the  increase  in  volume  and  improve- 
ment in  quality  of  the  sum  of  knowledge,  belief,  and  cus- 
tom, which  constitutes  the  tradition  of  any  society.  And 
it  is  to  the  superiority  of  the  moral  and  intellectual 
tradition  of  his  society  that  the  superiority  of  civilized 
man  over  existing  savages  and  over  his  savage  fore- 
fathers is  chiefly,  if  not  wholly,  due.  This  increase  and 
improvement  of  tradition  has  been  effected  by  countless 
steps,  each  relatively  small  and  unimportant,  initiated 
by  the  few  original  minds  of  the  successive  generations 
and  incorporated  in  the  social  tradition  through  the  ac- 
ceptance or  imitation  of  them  by  the  mass  of  men.  All 
that  constitutes  culture  and  civilization,  all,  or  nearly  all, 
that  distinguishes  the  highly  cultured  European  intel- 
lectually and  morally  from  the  men  of  the  stone  age  of 
Europe,  is  then  summed  up  in  the  word  'tradition/  and 
all  tradition  exists  only  in  virtue  of  imitation;  for  it  is 
only  by  imitation  that  each  generation  takes  up  and 
makes  its  own  the  tradition  of  the  preceding  generation ; 
and  it  is  only  by  imitation  that  any  improvement,  con- 
ceived by  any  mind  endowed  with  that  rarest  of  all  things, 
a  spark  of  originality,  can  become  embodied  within  the 
tradition  of  his  society."  B5 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READINGS. 

BOAS,  F. — The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man. 
COOLEY,  C.  H. — Social  Organization. 

ss  McDougall,  op.  cit.,  pp.  327-328. 


202  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

GIDDINGS,  F.  H. — Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology. 

GIDDINGS,  F.  H. — Democracy  and  Empire. 

GUMPLOWICZ,  L. — The  Outlines  of  Sociology. 

LE  BON,  G.—The  Crowd. 

McDouGALL,  "W. — An  Introduction  to  Social  Psychology. 

Ross,  E.  A. — Social  Control. 

SUMNER,  W.  G. — Folkways. 

TARDE,  G. — The  Laws  of  Imitation. 


VII 
RACES  AND  PEOPLES 

IN  the  thousands  of  years  that  elapsed  before  the  his- 
torical period  began,  that  continuing  tendency  to  vary 
which  had  already  differentiated  the  animal  kingdom 
into  genera  and  species,  was  operating  to  differentiate 
mankind  into  varieties  or  races.1  Associated  in  groups, 
the  early  men  of  the  Paleolithic  and  Neolithic  periods, 
moving  from  one  territory  to  another  under  the  pressure 
of  environmental  changes,  met  and  conquered  or  else 
intermarried  with  other  primitive  racial  groups.  From 
this  process  of  association,  intermixture,  and  adaptation 
to  the  necessities  of  climate  and  geographic  environment, 
certain  characteristics  emerged  as  stable  physical  pecul- 
iarities of  large  populations.  To-day  we  distinguish  a 
yellow-skinned  straight-haired  race,  a  black-skinned 
woolly-haired  race,  and  a  fair-skinned  curly-haired  race. 

But  before  we  can  identify  any  population  group  as 
a  true  race  we  must  show  that  certain  traits  or  stable 
physical  characters  which  it  possesses  are  distributed 
separately,  are  associated  into  types,  and  finally,  we  must 
show  the  hereditary  character  of  these  types.2  For  ex- 
ample, in  the  first  place,  we  must  show  that  such  a  trait 
as  blondness  is  diffused  among  large  numbers  of  a  popu- 
lation ;  in  the  second  place,  that  blondness  is  more  often 
associated  with  tall  stature  than  with  short  stature,  thus 

1  Giddings,  Principles,  p.  230. 

2  Ripley,  W.  Z. — The  Races  of  Europe,  pp.  104-105. 

203 


I/ 


0         00 


FIGUBE  64.  Diagram  illustrating  Facial  Angle,  Head  Form  and  Hair  Form. 
Upper  cuts:  A,  prognathic  jaws;  B,  orthognathic  jaws.  Middle  cuts: 
•  A,  dolichocephalic  or  long  skull,  in  which  width  is  about  75  per  cent, 
of  length;  B,  brachycephalic  or  round  skull,  in  which  width  is  about 
85  per  cent,  of  length.  Lower  cuts:  A,  elliptical  cross-section  of  the 
woolly,  frizzly  or  kinky  type  of  hair;  B,  slightly  elliptical  cross-section 
of  the  curly  or  wavy  type  of  hair;  C,  cylindrical  cross-section  of  lank 
or  straight  type  of  hair. 


BACES  AND  PEOPLES  205 

giving  us  a  tall  blond  type;  and  in  the  third  place,  we 
must  show  that  this  type  of  tallness  and  blondness  when 
characteristic  of  parents  is  inherited  by  their  children. 
The  Chinese  are  a  true  race  in  accordance  with  these  dis- 
tinctions because  such  characters  as  round  head,  straight 
hair,  yellow  skin  and  almond  eyes  are  usually  found  to  be 
the  combination  of  traits  which  the  average  Chinaman 
possesses,  moreover,  the  children  of  the  average  China- 
man also  possess  these  traits. 

The  problem  of  the  origin  of  races  is  well-nigh  impos- 
sible of  solution  because  the  facts  relating  to  the  gradual 
differentiation  of  racial  traits  are  lost  in  the  darkness  of 
prehistoric  ages.  When  history  began,  men  found  them- 
selves already  possessed  of  those  characteristics  of  skin 
color,  hair  form,  and  head  shape,  which  serve  as  the 
marks  of  race.  We  must  base  our  explanation  of  this 
process  largely  upon  carefully  framed  scientific  theory. 

In  the  present  stage  of  our  knowledge  of  this  complex 
problem,  the  following  factors  must  be  considered  in  any 
theory  of  race  origins.  The  most  highly  developed  ex- 
tinct anthropoid  apes  have  been  found  in  fossil  remains 
in  Europe.  The  Pithecanthropus  was  found  in  Java. 
The  Neanderthal  skull  and  the  Heidelberg  jaw  were 
found  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhine.  Of  living  men,  the 
lowest  in  culture  and  brain  capacity,  are  found  in  Aus- 
tralia, Tasmania,  and  Africa.  Of  these  lowest  types  of 
surviving  men,  some  are  dolichocephalic3  (long-headed) 
and  others  are  brachycephalic  (round-headed).  The 
great  area  of  distribution  of  the  dolichocephalic,  prog- 
nathic  3  (marked  projection  of  upper  and  lower  jaws  be- 
yond the  line  of  the  face),  woolly,  frizzly  or  kinky-haired, 
black  men,  is  south  of  the  equator — in  Australia  and 

3  See  figure  64. 


208  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

Africa.4  The  great  area  of  distribution  of  the  brachy- 
cephalic,  narrow-eyed,  lank  or  straight-haired,  yellow  or 
red-skinned  men,  is  eastern  Asia  and  western  America, 
chiefly  north  of  the  equator  along  the  semi-circular  shore- 
line of  Asia  and  America.4  The  great  area  of  distribu- 
tion of  the  mesocephalic  (medium-headed),  orthognathic 
(where  there  is  but  slight  projection  of  upper  and  lower 
jaws  beyond  the  line  of  the  face),  straight  and  wavy- 
haired,  brown  or  white  men,  is  a  broad  zone  from  Poly- 
nesia in  the  Pacific,  northwestward  through  southwestern 
Asia  and  northern  Africa  and  most  of  the  continent  of 
Europe.4  These  peoples  occupy  a  zone  which  coincides 
with  that  in  which  the  richest  remains  of  prehistoric  man 
have  been  found.  A  large  proportion  of  European  whites 
are  relatively  dolichocephalic;  another  large  proportion 
are  relatively  brachycephalic.  According  to  Professor 
Giddings,  any  theory  of  race  should  accommodate  all 
these  points. 

The  word  race  is  popularly  associated  with  color  of 
skin.  This  classification,  however,  is  not  satisfactory. 
Other  distinguishing  racial  marks  such  as  shape  of  head, 
hair  form,  and  facial  angle  must  be  considered.  Some 
of  these  traits  occur  singly,  but  often  they  occur  in  com- 
binations. We  find  that  the  peoples  popularly  known  as 
the  "Yellow  Race"  have  a  relatively  stable  combination 
of  traits  so  that  we  find  yellow  skin  usually  associated 
with  straight  or  lank  hair,  narrow  eyes,  and  a  relatively 
round  or  broad  head.5  The  peoples  commonly  called  the 
"Black  Race"  have  a  fairly  stable  combination  of  black 
skin,  with  woolly  or  kinky  hair,  heavy  jaws  protruding  be- 
yond the  other  features,  and  relatively  long  heads.6  On 
the  other  hand,  the  so-called  "White  Race"  possesses  a 

*  See  figures  65  and  66.  5  gee  figure  67.  »  See  figure  68. 


209 

combination  of  traits  which  are  by  no  means  invariable 
characteristics.  Thus,  while  members  of  the  White  race 
are  usually  fair-skinned,  we  find  that  there  are  gradations 
from  a  dark  skin  tint  that  is  almost  black,  all  the  way 
through  the  various  degrees  of  blondness  to  a  yellowish 
colored  skin;  while  most  members  of  the  White  race  are 
neither  very  broad  headed  nor  very  long  headed,  there  are 
individuals  who  are  as  long  headed  as  the  Negro  and  oth- 
ers who  are  as  round  headed  as  the  Chinaman;  in  hair 
form,  the  members  of  the  White  race  show  variations  all 
the  way  from  straight  almost  lank  hair  to  frizzly  or  almost 
kinky  hair.  The  White  race  seems  therefore  to  be  more 
variable  than  either  of  the  other  two  great  divisions  of 
mankind. 

Because  the  White  race  seems  to  be  more  variable  in 
its  traits  than  either  of  the  other  two  races,  Professor 
Giddings  considers  that  it  is  the  most  direct  projection 
of  the  original  race,  that  it  is  the  variable  plastic  race 
coming  down  from  earliest  paleolithic  times.  He  main- 
tains that  this  hypothesis  is  the  simplest  and  agrees  with 
more  facts  than  any  other  theory  of  race  origin.  He  ac- 
counts for  the  origin  of  the  Yellow  and  Black  races  upon 
the  hypothesis  that  one  contingent  of  the  original  non- 
descript race  with  a  tendency  to  vary,  worked  its  way 
into  a  favorable  location,  where,  in  the  course  of  cen- 
turies, natural  selection  operated  to  make  it  markedly 
dolichocephalic,  frizzly-haired,  and  black;  while  another 
contingent  of  this  original  plastic  race  with  a  tendency 
to  vary,  worked  its  way  into  a  favorable  location,  and 
there,  in  accordance  with  the  same  selective  process,  be- 
came markedly  brachycephalic,  almond-eyed,  lank-haired, 
and  yellow  in  skin  color.  While  this  theory  does  not  take 
immediate  notice  of  color  gradations  such  as  brown, 


210  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

and  red,  it  gives  an  admirable  distribution  geographic- 
ally, and  besides  this,  gives  a  correlation  between  head 
form  and  hair  form.  If  now,  we  substitute  Professor 
Giddings'  nomenclature  for  the  popular  terms  black, 
white,  and  yellow,  the  system  of  racial  classification  as- 
sumes the  following  form: 

/.     The  Australian-African  Group. 

Characteristics:  black  skin,  dolichocephalic, 
prognathic,  woolly  or  frizzly-haired  (cross- 
section  of  hair  very  elliptical).7 

Area    of    distribution:    Australia    and    Africa 

south  of  the  equator. 
77.     The  Polynesian-European  Group. 

Characteristics :  fair  skin,  mesocephalic  orthog- 
nathic,  straight  or  wavy  hair  (cross-section 
slightly  elliptical). 

Area  of  distribution :  broad  zone  from  Polynesia 
north  westward  through  southwestern  Asia 
and  northern  Africa  and  most  of  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe. 
777.     The  Asian- American  Group. 

Characteristics :  yellow  or  red  skin,  brachy- 
cephalic,  narrow-eyed,  lank  or  straight- 
haired  (cylindrical  in  cross-section). 

Area  of  distribution:  eastern  Asia  and  western 
America,  chiefly  north  of  the  equator  along 
the  semicircular  shore-line  of  Asia  and 
America. 

This  hypothesis  agrees  with  the  conditions  which  were 
first  laid  down.  The  Polynesian-European  group  oc- 
cupies at  the  present  time  that  zone  of  territory  which 

7  See  figure  64. 


From  Riplcy,  "The  Races  of  Europe." 

FIG  CUE  07.     Brachycephaltc  Asiatic  Types;   Uzbeg,  Kiptchak  and 

Kara-Kirghez. 


RACES  AND  PEOPLES  213 

extends  from  Java  on  the  southeast  to  the  valley  of  the 
Thames  on  the  northwest.  In  this  zone  the  traces  of 
earliest  man  have  been  found.  If  these  traces  indicate 
that  this  region  was  his  original  habitat,  then  man  spread 
over  the  earth  starting  from  this  zone.8  If  contingents 
of  the  original  race  wandered  from  this  zone  into  new 
localities,  and  were  prevented  from  crossing  by  environ- 
mental barriers  they  would  become  different  from  the 
original  type,  the  one  having  wandered  north  into  a 
colder  clime,  the  other  south  into  a  warmer  clime.  Then, 
in  the  course  of  time,  these  two  groups  would  become 
differentiated  more  widely  from  each  other  than  from  the 
original  type.  This  we  find  to  be  true.  The  round- 
headed  lank-haired  peoples  of  the  North  are  separated 
by  an  intermediate  type  from  the  long-headed  curly- 
haired  peoples  of  the  South. 

Now  by  the  same  reasoning,  the  original  group,  the 
intermediate  and  plastic  type,  would  become  in  some  way 
differentiated  according  as  part  went  southeast  or  north- 
west, and  these  northwestern  and  southeastern  groups 
would  tend  to  differ  somewhat  although  transmitting  the 
characteristic  head  form.  That  is,  different  sections  of 
the  same  general  racial  group  would  show  slight  varia- 
tions from  the  stable  peculiarities  of  the  larger  racial 
group  of  which  they  were  parts.  This  has  been  the  case.9 
In  the  southeast  the  brunette  of  southern  Europe  becomes 
the  brown  in  Polynesia,  while  in  the  northwest  the  pre- 
vailing white  of  Europe  becomes  the  pronounced  blond 
of  the  Baltic  regions.  In  the  far  southeast,  the  char- 
acteristic of  long  head  and  kinky  hair  is  more  extreme 
in  Australia  and  Tasmania,  because  of  long  isolation, 
than  in  Africa.  Also  in  the  other  direction  there  are 

s  See  figure  69.  »  See  figure  70. 


214 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


blacks  with  long  heads  and  kinky  hair,  blending  off  in 
Africa  to  the  Polynesian  type  from  inter-breeding.  All 
this  agrees  with  our  original  hypothesis. 

For  the  purposes  of  our  study  of  social  evolution  we 
can  dispense  with  any  further  examination  of  the  varie- 
ties of  the  Australian-African  group  and  of  the  Asian- 
American  group  and  can  concentrate  our  attention  upon 


ASIA 


AFRICA 


FIGURE   GO.     Zone   of  Distribution    of  Original   Undifferentiated   Race. 
(According  to  Giddings.) 

the  varieties  of  the  Polynesian-European  group.  The 
European  part  of  this  race  may  be  divided  into  two  main 
divisions.  One  of  these  is  relatively  long-headed  and 
dark-complexioned ;  this  division  has  been  called  the  Eur- 
African  group.  The  other  is  relatively  round-headed, 
light-complexioned,  and  inhabits  Europe  west  of  the  Ural 


From  Riplejr,  "  The  Races  of  Europe." 

FIGURE   68.     Dolichocephalic    African   Types;    Berber   and   Negro. 


RACES  AND  PEOPLES  217 

Mountains,  and  Asia  immediately  east  of  the  Ural  Moun- 
tains ;  this  division  has  been  called  the  Eur-Asian.  Geo- 
graphic terms  are  most  conveniently  used  in  this 
nomenclature  because  they  give  a  definite  sense  of  loca- 
tion. When  we  further  examine  the  Eur-African,  or 
long-headed  European  peoples,  we  find  that  those  in  the 
northwestern  portion  of  Europe  are  blond,  while  the 
long-headed  peoples  living  by  the  Mediterranean  basin 
are  dark.  A  similar  study  of  the  round-headed  or  Eur- 
Asian  peoples  of  Europe  reveals  the  fact  that  those  in- 
habiting the  Alpine  region  are  relatively  dark,  while 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Danubean  region  and  the  northern 
slopes  of  the  Alps  are  of  lighter  complexion  shading  into 
the  coloring  of  the  Baltic  population.  In  accordance 
with  this  system  of  classification,  the  population  of 
Europe  is  divided  by  Giddings  into  the  following  racial 
types : 

I.  THE  EUR- AFRICAN  RACE  (relatively  long-headed,  blond 
to  dark  complexion). 

1.  The  Baltic  Race.10 

Characteristics:  light  blond  type,  very  light  hair 
and  blue  eyes,  long  head  and  face,  tall  stature, 
narrow  aquiline  nose. 

Area  of  distribution :  the  section  of  northwestern 
Europe  near  the  Baltic  Sea, — the  general  area 
inhabited  by  the  Teutonic  peoples. 

2.  The  Mediterranean  Race.10 

Characteristics :  brunette  type,  hair  dark  brown  or 
black  and  eyes  dark,  head  and  face  long,  me- 
dium and  slender  stature,  rather  broad  nose. 

Area  of  distribution :  in  southern  Europe  south  of 

10  See  figure  71. 


218  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

the  Pyrenees,  along  the  southern  coast  of 
France  and  Italy,  including  Sicily  and  Sar- 
dinia. (The  Baltic  race  of  Giddings  is  the 
same  as  the  Teutonic  race  of  Ripley,  and  both 
Ripley  and  Giddings  use  the  term  Mediter- 
ranean to  designate  the  dark  long-headed 
race  of  southern  Europe.11) 

Some  authorities  regard  the  Mediterranean  race  as 
the  living  representative  of  the  most  ancient  peoples  of 
Europe.12  The  population  of  Europe  in  the  early  and  late 
stone  ages  was  long-headed.  The  substratum  of  paleo- 
lithic and  neolithic  remains  indicates  that  there  existed 
an  ancient  dolichocephalic  race  widely  distributed  over 
Europe.  There  was  the  short-statured  Neanderthal 
race  and  the  taller  and  more  finely  molded  Cro-Magnon 
race.  Specialists  have  identified  many  other  varieties, 
but  all  skull  remains  point  to  the  existence  of  this  early 
race  with  long  heads. 

II.  THE  EUR- ASIAN  RACE   (relatively  round-headed). 
1.  The  Alpine  Race.™ 

Characteristics:  chestnut  hair  with  hazel  gray 
eye,  round  head  and  broad  face,  medium 
stocky  stature,  and  variable  but  rather  broad, 
heavy  nose.  (A  type  intermediate  between 
the  Baltic  and  the  Mediterranean.)  Its  pecul- 
iarities appear  most  frequently  when  the  type 
is  found  in  greatest  purity,  isolated  in  a  moun- 
tain area.  The  ancient  Alpine  race  may  have 
been  exterminated  in  the  lowlands  and  the  rem- 

11  For  description  of  these  racial  types,  see  Ripley,  The  Races  of  Europe, 
pp.  120-130. 

12  Ripley,  op.  tit.,  pp.  461-465. 
is  See  figure  71. 


220  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

nants  driven  into  the  mountain  fastnesses  by 
the  energetic  Baltic  race.14 

Area  of  distribution :  central  France  and  southern 
Alpine  highlands. 

2.  The  Danubean  Race. 

Characteristics :  blond,  often  red-haired,  blue-eyed, 
round  head  and  relatively  broad  face,  of  tall, 
heavy  build.  This  race  has  played  a  most 
important  part  in  history,  variously  called 
the  Achaeans,  the  Hellenic  Greeks,  and  the 
Belgae. 

Area  of  distribution:  the  northern  Alpine  high- 
lands, and  the  entire  Danube  valley. 

It  is  probable  that  a  round-headed  white  stock  working 
westward  from  the  Caspian  regions  of  Asia,  crossing 
with  the  Baltic  stock  north  of  the  Alps  produced  the 
Danubean  race,  and  crossing  with  the  Mediterranean 
stock  south  of  the  Alps  produced  the  Alpine  race. 

This  classification  of  the  different  racial  types  found 
on  the  continent  of  Europe  is  made  on  the  basis  of 
geographic  distribution  because  we  have  good  reason 
to  believe  that  the  great  variety  of  characteristics  pre- 
sented by  the  physical  environment  of  Europe  has  been 
a  considerable  factor  in  racial  differentiation. 

Anthropologists  have  advanced  several  theories  as  to 
the  precise  area  in  which  the  White  race  was  differen- 
tiated. De  Quatrefages  has  defended  the  view  that  the 
White  race  originated  in  the  far  north,  probably  in  Si- 
beria, and  from  thence  spread  southward.  Professor 
Brinton  and  Professor  Keane  have  both  defended  the 
theory  that  the  White  race  was  differentiated  in  northern 

i* /&«/.,  p.  146. 


RACES  AND  PEOPLES  221 

Africa  and  spread  over  Europe.  It  is  held  that  the 
blond  race  originated  in  the  high  altitudes  of  the  Atlas 
Mountains,  because  in  the  early  historical  period  a  very 
definite  type  of  blond  to  red-haired  stock  lived  in  Syria 
and  Palestine.  These  two  authorities  believe  that  there 
was  a  relationship  between  temperature  and  color  shad- 
ings.  This  theory  would  be  plausible  except  for  the  fact 
that  in  regions  of  heat  one  finds  sporadic  varieties  of  the 
blond  type ;  moreover,  in  the  north  we  find  a  dark  brunette 
type  habitually  living  in  Arctic  regions. 

Dr.  Charles  E.  Woodruff  advances  another  view  as  to 
the  origin  of  the  White  race  and  maintains  that  his  theory 
is  consistent  with  all  known  facts.  He  finds  a  definite 
correlation  between  the  color  shading  of  man  and  the  dis- 
tribution of  light.  If  we  distinguish  In  the  sun's  rays  the 
heat  ray,  the  light  ray  and  the  actinic  ray  we  find  that 
while  the  heat  ray  and  the  actinic  ray  do  not  seem  to  be 
plainly  connected  with  coloration,  the  light  ray  is  a  very 
potent  influence  in  coloration  of  vegetable  and  animal 
life.15 

Thus  the  distribution  of  the  light  rays  of  the  sun  is 
consistent  with  the  facts  of  the  distribution  of  the  blond 
types.  The  blond  type  has  never  lived  in  the  extreme 
north  where  the  light  is  intense  by  reflection,  nor  in  the 
equatorial  region  where  the  light  rays  of  the  sun  are 
direct  and  burning,  but  has  lived  continuously  in  north- 
ern Europe  where  great  forests  existed, — a  region  having 
comparatively  little  sunshine  even  to-day,  but  which  was 
persistently  overcast  and  misty  in  the  early  historical  pe- 
riod. Dr.  Woodruff  believes,  therefore,  that  we  must  re- 
ject the  North  African  hypothesis  and  accept  the  theory 
that  the  blond  type  originated  in  northern  Europe  and 

is  The  Effects  of  Tropical  Heat  on  White  Men, 


222  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

northern  Asia,  in  a  cloudy  region  heavily  wooded.  With- 
out committing  himself  to  Dr.  Woodruff's  theory  of  the 
influence  of  light,  Professor  Giddings  thinks  that  a  pre- 
ponderance of  evidence  indicates  a  Baltic-Sibiric  origin 
of  the  blond  stocks  of  the  White  race. 

The  early  paleolithic  men  of  the  Neanderthal  type 
were  distributed  over  Europe,  northern  Africa  and  west- 
ern Asia.  Wandering  far  north,  not  to  the  Arctic  north, 
but  into  the  cool,  gloomy,  cloudy  north  of  the  Baltic 
regions,  northern  Eussia  and  Siberia,  these  prehistoric 
men  became  quite  white  in  the  course  of  time.  Probably 
at  first  they  were  not  distinctly  blond,  but  nondescript 
in  color,  intermediate,  "dirty  looking."  Living  in  this 
cloudy  northern  region  for  thousands  of  years  they  be- 
came eventually  quite  blond.  Under  the  conditions  of 
a  cool,  damp  climate  with  little  sunlight  and  considerable 
gloom,  whiteness  of  skin  may  have  had  a  definite  adaptive 
value,  just  as  darkness  of  skin,  because  it  affords  protec- 
tion from  the  heat  rays  of  the  sun,  is  the  prevailing  char- 
acteristic of  races  living  along  the  equatorial  zone. 
Hence,  all  individuals  who  possessed  variations  in  the 
pigment  cells  in  the  direction  of  greater  blondness,  were 
more  liable  to  survive  and  to  transmit  to  their  children 
this  tendency  to  blondness.  All  others  not  so  favored 
would  live  under  a  disadvantage  and,  in  time,  become  ex- 
terminated. 

Assuming  that  this  relatively  white  variety  of  man  was 
distributed  over  the  Baltic-Sibiric  regions,  the  Glacial 
epochs  must  have  caused  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  these 
blond  peoples.  As  the  ice  crept  down  from  the  North, 
the  White  race,  deployed  along  the  ice  front,  was  driven 
southward.  If  an  eastward  wing  should  follow  the  line 
of  least  resistance  and  find  its  way  into  the  Japanese 


BALTIC   (lEUTONIC 


Fruni  Riplcy,  "The  Races  of  Europe." 


MEUM  KKKANHAN 


FlGL'UE  71.     The  Three  European  Racial  Types;   Baltic    (Teutonic), 
Alpine   and  Mediterranean. 


KACES  AND  PEOPLES 


225 


Archipelago,  we  would  expect  to  find  a  little  group  of  the 
White  race  on  this  island  to-day.  We  do  find  such  a  white 
strain.10  If  an  east  central  contingent,  moving  south- 


FIGURE   72. 


Area   of    Differentiation    of   the    White    Race    in    the    Baltic. 
(  According    to    Giddings.  ) 


eastward  before  the  on-coming  ice  sheet,  worked  its  way 
into  southern  Siberia  we  should  expect  to  find  through- 
out this  area  in  later  ages  groups  of  white  men  blended 
with  the  Mongolic  stocks  of  eastern  Asia.  We  do  find 
such  groups  to-day.  If  a  west  central  wing  moved  south, 
it  would  become  broad-headed  by  intermarrying  with 
the  east  central  contingent  which  had  already  become 
broad-headed  by  intermarriage  with  the  Mongolic  stocks 
of  Central  Asia,  and  we  would  expect  to  find  to-day  in 

is  The  Ainus  of  the  Island  of  Yezo,  Japanese  Archipelago, 


226  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

the  western  Caspian  region,  the  area  of  the  Black  Sea 
and  the  Danube  valley  and  in  the  Alpine  regions  a  fair 
broad-headed  type ;  we  do  find  such  a  type  to-day  in  this 
region,  the  type  which  we  have  called  the  Danubean  and 
the  Alpine  races.  Finally,  if  we  assume  that  a  western 
wing  of  this  northern  people,  moving  south  before  the 
ice  front,  returned  northwestward  when  the  ice  receded 
we  should  expect  to  find,  as  we  do  in  modern  times,  a 
definite  Baltic  area  of  dolichocephalic  blonds.17 

As  the  Glacial  epochs  lasted  for  thousands  of  years, 
the  ice  must  have  kept  these  blond  groups  separated  from 
one  another  in  an  eastern,  an  east  central,  a  west 
central  and  a  western  area,  respectively.  In  the  regions 
of  the  Caspian  we  find  neolithic  remains,  then  through- 
out Assyria,  Palestine,  Egypt,  northern  Africa,  Spain, 
France  and  even  southern  England  we  find  remnants  of 
neolithic  stone  structures  showing  how  persistently  these 
areas  were  inhabited  during  the  Neolithic  period. 

Then,  as  the  great  continental  ice  sheet  melted  back 
and  the  interglacial  period  began,  men  pressed  north- 
ward to  the  regions  of  the  Baltic.  This  Cro-Magnon, 
long-headed,  Eur- African  man,  migrated  to  the  northern 
sections  of  Europe  and  intermarried  with  the  blond 
Baltic  types.  The  Baltic  peoples,  prolific,  sent  out 
waves  of  migration.  The  Caspian  peoples,  also  rapidly 
multiplying,  sent  out  waves  of  migration.  The  Baltic 
peoples  moving  south  and  southeastward,  the  Caspian 
peoples  moving  south  and  southwestward,  mingled  and 
produced  in  the  course  of  this  process  all  the  varieties 
of  the  White  race.  Professor  Giddings  maintains  that 
substantially  this  explanation  of  the  origin  of  the  varie- 
ties of  the  White  race  is  consistent  with  the  known  facts. 

IT  See  figure  72. 


RACES  AND  PEOPLES  227 

The  problem  of  the  origin  of  the  aboriginal  American 
peoples  is  as  difficult  to  solve  as  any  racial  problem. 
Professor  Keane  believes  that  the  early  inhabitants  of 
America  came  by  two  distinct  routes-  from  Asia ;  by  way 
of  Bering  Strait,  and  in  late  Tertiary  times,  from  western 
Europe  to  Greenland  and  Labrador.18  Probably  the  route 
from  Europe  first  was  followed  by  primitive  long- 
headed tribes,  and  later  the  route  from  Asia  by 
round-headed  Mongolic  peoples.  Both  of  these  peo- 
ples arrived  during  the  stone  ages  because  we  find  side 
by  side  fossil  remains  of  the  two  types  in  southern  Brazil 
and  Argentina.  ' '  From  the  undoubted  remains  of  paleo- 
lithic man  discovered  in  the  same  southern  regions  it 
would  also  appear  that  the  long-headed  preceded  the 
short-headed  race,  for  no  clear  traces  of  a  round-headed 
paleolithic  people  have  yet  been  anywhere  brought  to 
light."19 

The  civilization  of  the  races  of  Europe  has  spread  with 
wonderful  rapidity  until  it  has  set  the  standards  of  living 
in  the  remotest  islands  of  the  Pacific  as  it  has  determined 
the  culture  of  great  commercial  empires.  Civilized  man 
has  succeeded  in  subduing  many  of  the  forces  of  nature 
and  in  converting  natural  energy  into  forms  serviceable 
to  himself.  He  has  grown  to  believe  that  all  peoples 
who  have  not  gained  a  similar  control  of  natural  forces 
are  to  be  pitied,  that  they  represent  a  lower  order  of  in- 
tellect and  that  their  culture  is  a  lower  order  of  achieve- 
ment. This  assumption  that  the  European  White  race 
is  superior  to  all  other  races  is  based  upon  the  remarkable 
achievements  of  the  White  race.20  We  conclude  that  since 
the  civilization  is  higher,  it  took  a  higher  grade  of  mind 

is  Keane,  op.  cit.,  pp.  362-364. 

i°  Ibid.  20  Boas,  op.  cit.,  p.  2. 


228 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


to  develop  it.  It  is  argued  that  the  European  has  a 
higher  aptitude  for  achievement  than  a  member  of 
another  race,  and  that  this  higher  aptitude  is  due  to  his 


mm 

PLEISTOCENE  PRECURSOR 


FIGURE  73.     The  Family  Tree  of  the  Hominidae. 
to  Giddings.) 


( According 


mental  and  physical  superiority.  Professor  Boas  does 
not  believe  that  achievement  is  necessarily  a  measure 
of  aptitude  for  progress  or  of  intellectual  superiority. 


RACES  AND  PEOPLES  229 

We  must  remember  that  none  of  the  great  civilizations 
of  the  world  was  the  product  of  the  genius  of  a  single 
people.21  In  ancient  times,  civilization  was  shifting  over 
a  rather  limited  area  and  was  transferred  from  con- 
queror to  conquered,  or  vice  versa.  Ideas  and  inventions 
were  carried  from  one  to  another  and  each  people  par- 
ticipated in  this  early  development  and  contributed  its 
share  to  the  general  progress.  In  this  process  of  bor- 
rowing and  development,  the  fact  that  the  European  race 
happened  to  distance  all  others  is  merely  a  matter  of  a 
few  thousand  years,  and  in  the  vast  history  of  man  this 
is  a  short  period.  We  must  remember  that  the  highly 
specialized  Magdalenian  culture  is  not  less  than  twenty 
thousand  years  old,  and  yet  there  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  this  stage  was  reached  by  mankind  the  world  over 
at  the  same  period.22  Now  that  we  know  that  we  are 
dealing  with  vast  periods  of  time  it  seems  probable  that 
the  life-history  of  a  people,  the  vicissitudes  of  its  history, 
are  fully  sufficient  to  explain  a  delay  of  this  character 
without  obliging  us  to  assume  a  difference  in  their  apti- 
tude for  social  development.23  "This  retardation  would 
be  significant  only  if  it  could  be  shown  that  it  occurs  in- 
dependently over  and  over  again  in  the  same  race,  while 
in  other  races  greater  rapidity  of  development  was  found 
repeatedly  in  independent  cases."  24 

At  the  present  time,  practically  all  members  of  the 
White  race  participate  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  in  the 
advance  of  civilization.  In  no  other  race  has  the  civili- 
zation that  has  been  attained  at  one  time  or  another, 
reached  all  the  tribes  or  peoples  of  that  race.  This  does 

21  Ibid.,  pp.  6-7. 

22/btV.,    p.    0. 

23  Waitz,  T. — Anthropologic  der  Naturvolkcr,  2nd.  ed.,  vol.   1,  p.  381. 
2*  Ibid.,  p.  10. 


230  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

not  mean  that  all  members  of  the  White  race  had  the 
power  of  originating  or  developing  the  essential  elements 
of  civilization  with  equal  rapidity.  But  the  White  race 
does  show  a  remarkable  power  of  assimilation,  which 
does  not  seem  to  have  manifested  itself  to  an  equal  de- 
gree in  any  other  race.25  The  problem  is  therefore  one 
of  explaining  why  the  tribes  of  ancient  Europe  readily 
assimilated  the  civilization  that  was  offered  to  them  by 
Rome  and  Greece,  while  at  the  present  time  we  find  primi- 
tive peoples  dwindling  away  before  the  approach  of  mod- 
ern civilization. 

In  the  first  place  these  barbarous  peoples  were  in  their 
appearance,  like  the  civilized  men  of  their  times.  The 
stigma  of  inferiority,  because  they  had  not  developed  a 
civilization  like  the  ancient  civilization,  did  not  attach  to 
these  peoples.  The  colonies  of  ancient  times  grew  by 
accretion  from  among  the  more  primitive  people.  Then, 
in  ancient  times,  the  devastating  influences  of  diseases 
which  nowadays  begin  to  ravage  the  inhabitants  of  ter- 
ritories newly  opened  to  the  whites,  were  not  so  marked. 
These  peoples  lived  in  more  permanent  contiguity,  and, 
being  always  in  contact  with  one  another,  were  subject 
to  the  same  influences ;  consequently  no  isolated  portion 
of  the  race  had  opportunity  to  become  immune  to  cer- 
tain diseases  through  natural  selection.  In  modern 
times,  the  settling  of  an  area  near  the  habitation  of  some 
primitive  folk  is  followed  by  epidemics  among  them  con- 
tracted from  the  whites  which  sweep  away  large  numbers, 
disturbing  or  completely  destroying  the  whole  social  or 
economic  structure  of  the  people. 

But  the  most  potent  fact  which  accounts  for  the  ap- 
parently greater  powers  of  assimilation  possessed  by 


RACES  AND  PEOPLES  231 

the  ancestors  of  the  European  peoples,  is  found  in  the 
differences  of  culture  which  are  economic.  The  contrast 
between  the  culture  represented  by  the  modern  white 
man  and  that  of  the  primitive  man  is  far  more  funda- 
mental than  the  contrast  between  the  ancients  and  the 
people  with  whom  they  came  in  contact.  This  is  particu- 
larly in  economic  and  industrial  activities.  The  in- 
dustries of  primitive  peoples  of  our  times  are  exter- 
minated by  the  cheapness  and  enormous  quantity  of  the 
products  imported  by  the  white  trader.  The  slow  and 
laborious  industrial  processes  of  primitive  peoples  can- 
not compete  with  the  power  of  production  of  the  machines 
of  the  whites.  Moreover,  primitive  tribes  are  swamped 
by  the  numbers  of  the  immigrating  race,  which  crowds 
them  out  of  their  old  haunts  so  rapidly  that  there  is  no 
time  for  gradual  assimilation.  In  olden  times  there  was 
no  such  immense  inequality  in  numbers  as  we  observe 
in  many  regions  to-day .2G  "We  conclude,  therefore, 
that  the  conditions  for  assimilation  in  ancient  Europe 
were  much  more  favorable  than  in  those  countries  where 
in  our  times  primitive  people  come  in  contact  with 
civilization.  Therefore,  we  do  not  need  to  assume  that 
the  ancient  Europeans  were  more  gifted  than  other  races 
which  have  not  become  exposed  to  the  influences  of  civ- 
ilization until  recent  times."  27 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READINGS. 

BOAS,  F. — The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man. 
DENIKER,  J. — The  Races  of  Man. 

GIDDINGS,  F.  II. — Principles  of  Sociology,  part  Hi,  chapter  ii 
(the  theory  of  the  present  chapter  will  not  be  found  in  this 

ze  Ibid.,  p.  13. 

27  Ibid.;  also  Gerland,  Georg — Das  Aussterben  der  Naturvolker;  Ratzel, 
F. — Anthropogeographie,  vol.  ii,  pp.  330  et  seq. 


232  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

reference  as  it  has  been  advanced  since  "The  Principles" 
was  published,  and  is  taken  with  Professor  Giddings'  per- 
mission from  notes  of  his  lectures  at  Columbia  University. ) 

KEANE,  A.  H. — Ethnology. 

EIPLEY,  W.  Z. — The  Races  of  Europe. 

SERGI,  G. — Tlie  Mediterranean  Race. 

TYLOR,  E.  B. — Anthropology. 


VIII 

TKIBAL  SOCIETY 

THERE  are  three  means  of  determining  approximately 
the  characteristics  of  social  life  among  prehistoric  men : 
first,  a  considerable  mass  of  archeological  remains; 
second,  the  existence  of  survivals  in  the  traditions  of  civil- 
ized society  indicating  a  time  when  the  ancestors  of  these 
peoples  lived  under  very  primitive  conditions ;  and  third, 
a  general  parallelism  between  some  features  of  prehis- 
toric cultures  and  some  features  of  the  culture  of  primi- 
tive societies  which  exist  to-day  among  the  Australian 
aborigines,  the  American  Indians,  and  other  savage  peo- 
ples. 

But  this  parallelism  has  certain  important  limitations 
which  must  be  remembered  in  any  comparison  we  may 
wish  to  make.  Modern  savage  groups  live  in  relatively 
barren,  inhospitable,  inaccessible  regions  of  the  earth, 
into  which  they  have  been  crowded  by  stronger  peoples.1 
Moreover,  the  spread  of  the  European  race  with  its 
highly  developed  civilization  has  cut  short  the  growth  of 
the  existing  independent  germs  of  civilization  among 
these  primitive  peoples  without  regard  to  their  mental 
aptitude.2  Thus  the  parallelism  is  not  exact,  for  while 
we  cannot  premise  any  marked  intellectual  superiority 
of  prehistoric  man  over  existing  savages  in  explaining 
present  cultural  differences,  we  must  recognize  that  ad- 
vantage of  some  sort  was  possessed  by  the  prehistoric 

iGiddinga,  Principles  of  Sociology,  p.  210.  2  Boas,  op.  cit.,  p.  17. 

233 


234  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

ancestors  of  civilized  races  over  the  early  ancestors  of 
existing  savage  peoples. 

The  archeological  remains  of  prehistoric  man  reveal 
to  us  much  of  his  culture  and  practices.  We  have  men- 
tioned briefly  in  the  third  chapter  the  various  types  of 
implements  which  prehistoric  men  manufactured.  They 
were  made  of  rough  chipped  flint,  and  later  of  polished 
stone  and  finally  of  rude  metal.  The  arts  of  pottery  and 
weaving  were  practised.  When  we  examine  the  flint  and 
stone  implements  of  primitive  men  living  in  the  savage 
state  to-day  we  find  that  their  implements  resemble  these 
old  remains  which  come  down  to  us  from  prehistoric 
times.  Comparison  of  prehistoric  pottery  and  weaving 
with  the  pottery  and  weaving  carried  on  by  existing 
savages  reveals  a  similar  identity.3  Thus  we  have  evi- 
dence which  leads  us  to  believe  that  as  regards  the  arts 
of  manufacturing  flint  and  stone  implements,  and  even 
in  the  more  pacific  arts  of  pottery  and  weaving,  exist- 
ing savage  societies  are  passing  through  the  same  cul- 
tural stage  of  development  that  the  ancestors  of  European 
peoples  passed  through  in  prehistoric  times.  This  iden- 
tity in  important  phases  of  culture  leads  us  to  believe  that 
in  other  respects  the  culture  and  social  organization  of 
prehistoric  men  were  similar  to  the  culture  and  social 
organization  of  modern  savage  societies.  Consequently, 
if  we  would  understand  the  social  organization  of  prehis- 
toric peoples,  we  must  study  the  social  organization  and 
culture  of  modern  primitive  groups. 

The  most  characteristic  fact  of  primitive  social  organ- 
ization among  all  groups  of  savage  peoples — Eskimo, 
Australians,  American  Indians  and  others — is  that  the 
bond  of  union  is  always  and  everywhere  one  of  ficti- 

3  See  figures  74  and  75  and  compare  with  figure  43. 


From  The  Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 

FIGURE  74.     Pottery  made  by  the  Pima  Indians  of  Southern  Arizona 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY 


237 


tious  and  magical  or  of  real  blood  relationship.  The 
members  of  a  group  are  members  of  that  group  and  not 
of  another  because  they  are  related  by  "mana"4  or  as 
kin  to  others  in  the  group.  This  group  of  kindred  trac- 
ing relationship  and  descent  through  mothers  or  through 
fathers  is  found  in  ethnic  society,  both  savage  and  bar- 


From  The  Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 


FIGURE  75. 


Baskets   made   by   the   Pima   Indiana  of   Southern 
Arizona. 


barian,  and  is  generally  known  as  the  "clan.'*  "Any 
group  of  kindred  which  includes  all  descendants  of  a  first 
mother  through  her  daughters,  granddaughters,  and  so 
on,  and  excludes  all  descendants  through  her  sons,  grand- 
sons, and  so  on,  is  a  metronymic  clan.  In  like  manner, 
any  group  of  kindred  which  includes  all  descendants  of 
a  first  father  through  his  sons,  grandsons,  and  so  on,  and 

4  "Mana"  is  that  mysterious  strength,  virtue,  grace,  creating,  saving,  or 
healing  power  which  the  primitive  mind  associates  with  many  objects,  and 
which  lie  believes  to  be  communicable  or  contagious.  It  is  the  basis  of 
much  primitive  religious  belief,  of  magic,  and  of  the  North  American  In- 
dian's "medicine." 


238  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

excludes  all  descendants  through  his  daughters,  grand- 
daughters, and  so,  is  a  patronymic  clan."5  Thus  the 
clan  is  of  two  forms,  the  metronymic,  in  which  descent 
is  traced  through  the  mother  line  only,  and  the  patro- 
nymic, in  which  the  descent  is  traced  through  the  father 
line  only. 

In  the  literature  of  historic  peoples  there  is  evidence 
which  indicates  that  the  clan  was  a  very  widespread  in- 
stitution in  ancient  times.  The  clan  existed  among  the 
Greeks.  Homer  tells  us  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
Greek  warriors  were  separated  by  tribes  and  by  clans.6 
In  the  Old  Testament  of  the  Bible  there  are  frequent  pass- 
ages revealing  the  existence  of  social  organization  on 
kinship  lines.  The  metronymic  clan  existed  in  Shechem, 
for  we  read  that  Abimelech  went  unto  "his  mother's 
brethren"  and  because  he  was  regarded  as  their  brother 
obtained  favor  with  them.7  When  Abram  went  down 
into  Egypt  he  directed  his  wife  Sarai,  who  was  a  beau- 
tiful woman,  to  say  that  she  was  his  sister  in  order 
that  the  Egyptians  in  seeking  to  take  her  might  not  kill 
her  husband.  Afterwards  he  explained  that  while  she 
was  the  daughter  of  his  father,  she  was  not  the  daughter 
of  his  mother.  In  accordance  with  the  metronymic  sys- 
tem of  relationship  he  could  marry  her  because  only 
relation  in  the  mother  line  counted.8  The  clan  or  gens 
existed  among  the  Romans  in  the  early  historical  period ; 
those  related  to  each  other  through  males  were  known 
as  agnati,  those  related  to  each  other  through  females 

5  Giddings,  Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology,  p.   453. 
e  Homer,  The  Iliad,  translated  by  Lang,  Leaf  and  Myers,  p.  32 ;  and  Mor- 
gan, L.  H. — Ancient  Society,  p.  222. 
7  Judges,  ch.  ix,  1-3. 
s  Genesis,  ch.  xii,  10-20;   ch.  xx. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  239 

were  known  as  cognati?  Among  the  Hindoos  the  clan  is 
called  the  Gotra  and  among  the  Arabs  the  Hayy.  Among 
the  ancient  Irish  the  clan  was  variously  called  the  Tuath, 
Cinel,  or  Clann.™ 

As  only  incomplete  records  come  down  to  us  of  social 
life  among  these  historic  peoples  in  the  period  when 
they  were  organized  in  clans  and  tribes— on  the  pattern 
of  ethnic  organization  in  general— we  shall  find  it  more 
profitable  to  study  primitive  society  as  it  exists  to-day, 
and  from  this  study,  attempt  to  reconstruct  a  picture  of 
what  social  relations  were  among  the  men  of  the  pre- 
historic period. 

Certain  American  Indian  tribal  groups,  especially  the 
tribes  of  the  Iroquois  confederacy  and  certain  North 
Pacific  Coast  tribes,  and  the  native  tribes  of  Australia, 
are  fairly  typical  of  important  characteristics  in  the  life 
of  primitive  peoples.  We  will,  therefore,  study  these 
primitive  groups  to  gain  a  picture  of  social  organization 
among  uncivilized  peoples. 

The  Iroquois  tribes  inhabited  a  region  including  the 
greater  part  of  the  present  states  of  New  York,  Penn- 
sylvania and  Ohio,  and  portions  of  Canada  north  of 
Lake  Ontario.  It  is  thought  that  they  originally  came 
from  beyond  the  Mississippi,  making  their  way  to  the 
valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  thence  into  central  New 
York.  The  five  tribes  of  the  Iroquois  people  were  the 
Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onondagas,  Cayugas,  and  Senecas. 
They  resided  in  villages  which  were  usually  surrounded 
by  stockades,  and  subsisted  upon  fish  and  game,  and  the 
products  of  a  limited  horticulture.  In  numbers  they  did 

»  Justinian,  Institutes,  Lib.  I,  xv.  i,  Cf.  Gaius,  i.  156;  also  Morgan,  op. 
tit.,  pp.  285-308. 

10  Ginncll,  The  Brehon  Laws,  pp.  102-109, 


240  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

not  at  any  time  exceed  20,000  people.  They  lived  in 
the  great  forests  of  New  York.  A  long  period  elapsed 
after  their  settlement  in  New  York  before  the  confederacy 
was  formed.  During  this  time  they  made  common  cause 
against  their  enemies  and  experienced  the  advantages  of 
cooperation  both  for  aggression  and  defense.  They  were 
first  discovered  by  white  men  in  1608  and  about  the  year 
1675  attained  the  culminating  point  of  their  power  and 
influence.11 

While  this  confederation  of  Indian  tribes  was  ostensi- 
bly for  purposes  of  mutual  protection,  there  was  a  deeper 
basis  for  it  in  the  bond  of  kin.  The  real  tie  was  the  ex- 
istence of  certain  clans  which  the  tribes  had  in  common. 
All  members  of  the  saine  clan,  whether  Mohawks, 
Oneidas,  Onondagas,  Cayugas,  or  Senecas,  were  brothers 
and  sisters  to  each  other  in  virtue  of  their  descent  from 
the  same  common  ancestor.  Three  clans,  the  Wolf,  Bear, 
and  Turtle,  were  common  to  the  five  tribes.  Between 
the  separated  parts  of  each  clan,  although  its  members 
spoke  different  dialects  of  the  same  language,  there  ex- 
isted a  fraternal  connection  which  linked  the  nations  to- 
gether with  indissoluble  bonds.  In  the  estimation  of  an 
Iroquois  Indian  every  member  of  his  clan  in  whatever 
tribe,  was  as  certainly  a  kinsman  as  his  brother.  This 
system  of  cross-relationship  between  persons  of  the 
same  clan  in  different  tribes  is  still  preserved  and  recog- 
nized among  the  Iroquois  in  all  its  old  force.  Dissen- 
sions between  component  tribes  in  the  confederacy  were 
thus  guarded  against,  for  if  the  Mohawks  fell  upon  the 
Oneidas,  since  the  Bear  clan  was  common  to  both  tribes, 
there  would  be  conflict  between  brother  kinsmen,  an  un- 
thinkable situation  in  the  mind  of  primitive  man. 

Ji  Morgan,  op.  cit.,  ch.  v. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  241 

Another  important  bond  of  union  was  the  possession  of 
a  common  stock  language. 

The  tribes  12  occupied  positions  of  entire  equality  in 
the  confederacy,  in  rights,  privileges,  and  obligations. 
Each  tribe  remained  independent  in  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  local  self-government.  The  confederacy  created 
a  general  council  of  fifty  sachems,13  equal  in  rank  and 
authority  and  invested  with  supreme  powers  over  all 
matters  pertaining  to  the  confederacy.  The  sachems 
were  elected  by  clans.  The  clans  also  had  the  right  to 
remove  a  sachem  from  office  for  just  cause.  Each  tribe 
had  a  council  composed  of  its  chiefs  and  sachems  with 
supreme  power  over  matters  which  pertained  to  the  tribe 
exclusively.  Unanimity  in  the  council  of  the  confederacy 
was  essential  to  every  public  act,  and  in  this  council  the 
sachems  voted  by  tribes.  The  tribal  councils  alone  had 
the  power  to  convene  the  general  council  of  the  confed- 
eracy. The  people  had  the  right  to  participate  directly 
in  the  discussion  of  public  questions  in  the  council  by 
having  orators  represent  them.  The  weak  point  in  the 
confederacy  was  that  there  was  no  executive  head,  no 
chief  magistrate.  There  were  two  equi-powerful  war- 
chiefs  with  veto  power  over  each  other's  acts.  This  pro- 
vision, however,  did  not  do  away  with  the  serious  defi- 
ciency in  administrative  power.  In  this  remarkable 
organization  of  a  primitive  people  still  in  the  cultural 
stage  of  stone  implements  and  rudimentary  agriculture, 
public  opinion  was  very  important.  The  distinctly  demo- 
cratic form  of  this  system  of  social  organization  shows 

12  A  tribe  is  a  community  of  people  occupying  a  definite  territory,  speak- 
ing one  language  or  dialect,  and  having  many  customs  and  traditions  in 
common ;  it  is  usually  subdivided  into  several  clans. 

is  Civil  leaders  as  distinct  from  chiefs  who  were  military  leaders. 


242 


SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 


From  the  Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  A 


FIGUBK  76.     An  Indian  Tepee. 

that  the  aptitude  for  democratic  government  is  not  in 
the  exclusive  possession  of  the  Greek,  the  Roman,  and 
the  Anglo-Saxon  peoples,  but  is  quite  likely  to  crop  out 
wherever  the  circumstances  are  favorable. 

The  Iroquois  called  themselves  "The  People  of  the 
Long    House"    (Ho-de-no-sau^nee).     The    Iroquois    In- 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  243 

dians  lived  in  a  community  house  which  was  long  and 
narrow,  with  compartments  for  each  family  of  the  clan. 
The  clan  dominated  the  long  house  because  it  was  pri- 
marily the  clan  house,  and  the  clan  was  the  most  impor- 
tant body  in  local  affairs.  Since  the  clans  were 
metronymic,  the  oldest  woman  in  the  long  house  was  the 
matron  who  ran  the  house  with  supreme  authority  over 
all  its  inmates  in  domestic  affairs.  If  a  mere  man  of- 
fended, he  was  thrust  out  by  the  order  of  the  house 
matron.  All  adults,  men  and  women,  had  equal  voice  in 
the  clan  council,  but  in  the  tribal  council  women  had  no 
voice.  Thus  we  see  that  among  the  Iroquois  Indians 
the  position  of  woman  was  on  an  equality  with  that  of 
man.  The  rather  widespread  notion  that  among  primi- 
tive peoples  woman  had  a  degraded  position  is  not  borne 
out  by  the  study  of  many  tribal  groups.  Among  the 
Iroquois  clans  there  was  general  recognition  of  the 
obligation  not  to  marry  within  the  clan.  That  is,  men  of 
the  Bear  clan  must  seek  for  wives,  women  of  the  Turtle 
clan  or  of  some  other  clan,  they  must  not  marry  women 
of  their  own  clan,  the  Bear  clan.  This  usage  is  con- 
nected with  the  idea  that  all  persons  bearing  the  same 
crest,  or  totem,  or  clan  name,  are  related  by  blood  and 
hence  marriage  between  them  is  tabooed.  A  clan  which 
follows  the  custom  of  requiring  its  members  to  marry 
individuals  in  another  clan  is  called  an  exogamous  clan. 
The  usage  is  called  exogamy. 

One  further  unit  of  organization  in  the  structure  of 
Iroquois  society  must  be  mentioned.  It  is  the  phratry. 
The  Iroquois  tribes  had  a  total  of  thirty-eight  clans,  and 
in  four  of  these  tribes  the  clans  were  combined  into  a 
total  of  eight  phratries.  The  phratry  was  a  brother- 
hood of  clans,  probably  originally  one  clan,  which,  be- 


244  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

coining  overlarge,  had  subdivided.14  Originally,  mar- 
riage was  not  allowed  between  the  members  of  the  same 
phratry;  but  the  members  of  either  could  marry  into 
any  clans  of  the  other.  Morgan  regards  this  prohibition 
as  an  indication  that  the  clans  of  each  phratry  were  sub- 
divisions of  an  original  clan,  and  that,  therefore,  the  pro- 
hibition against  marrying  into  a  person's  own  clan  had 
followed  to  its  subdivisions.  The  phratry  was  partly 
for  social  and  partly  for  religious  purposes.  At  the 
tribal  council  of  chiefs  and  sachems  members  of  each 
phratry  usually  seated  themselves  on  opposite  sides  of 
an  imaginary  council-fire,  and  the  speakers  addressed 
the  two  opposite  bodies  as  the  representatives  of  the 
phratries.  While  blood  feuds  were  ordinarily  the  con- 
cern of  the  two  clans  involved,  it  often  happened  that 
the  clan  of  the  murdered  person  called  upon  the  other 
clans  of  their  phratry  to  unite  with  them  in  avenging  the 
deed.  The  phratry  participated  in  funeral  ceremonials 
and  was  also  concerned  in  the  election  of  the  sachems 
and  chiefs  of  several  clans.  In  ball  games  the  Senecas 
played  by  phratries,  one  against  the  other ;  and  they  bet 
against  each  other  upon  the  result  of  the  game. 

As  to  the  religious  ideas  of  the  Iroquois  Indians,  we 
know  now  that  their  conception  of  a  " Great  Spirit"  has 
been  misunderstood  by  those  who  first  described  them  as 
believing  in  a  single  all-powerful  deity  identified  with  the 
Christian  concept  of  one  God.  The  Indian  word  "Mani- 
tou,"  which  has  been  considered  by  many  as  an  Indian 
name  for  God,  does  not  mean  the  "Great  Spirit"  in  the 
sense  of  an  all-powerful  ruling  spirit ;  it  is  merely  an  ad- 
jectival concept  containing  the  idea  of  the  "big,"  the 
' '  powerful. ' '  Manitou  means  strange,  wonderful ;  it  does 

n  Morgan,  op.  cit.,  ch.   iii ;    Giddings,  op.   cit.,  p.  461. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  245 

not  mean  a  deity  which  is  extraordinary  in  itself,  but 
things  which  are  strange,  or  mysterious,  are  Manitou. 
Thus  the  Indian  has  no  idea  of  one  Great  and  Ruling 
Spirit  as  we  have,  but  he  believes  in  a  multitude  of  spirits 
animating  all  surrounding  objects.15 

One  of  the  most  interesting  institutions  of  primitive 
people  is  "Totemism."  Frazer  defined  a  totem  as,  "a 
class  of  material  objects  which  a  savage  regards  with 
superstitious  respect,  believing  that  there  exists  between 
him  and  every  member  of  the  class  an  intimate  and  alto- 
gether special  relation."10  Becaues  totemism  is  often 
closely  connected  with  the  social  and  religious  institutions 
of  primitive  people  it  is  one  of  the  most  illuminating  sub- 
jects of  study  for  the  anthropologist.  There  are  several 
features  which  various  authorities  have  believed  to  be 
symptomatic  of  totemism.  Dr.  Goldenweiser  has  sum- 
marized them  as  follows: 

(1.)  An  exogamous  clan. 

(2.)  A  clan  name  derived  from  the  totem. 

(3.)  A  religious  attitude  towards  the  totem;  as  a 
"friend,"  "brother,"  "protector,"  etc. 

(4.)  Taboos,  or  restrictions  against  killing,  eating 
(sometimes  touching  and  seeing),  the  totem. 

(5.)  A  belief  in  descent  from  the  totem.17 

Since  totemism  among  the  Australian  tribes  and  among 
the  Indians  of  British  Columbia  presents  certain  charac- 
teristic features  mentioned  above,  we  will  study  these 
primitive  groups  and  their  relation  to  totemism.  It  is 
necessary  to  recognize  that  the  totem  is  of  three  general 
kinds:  the  clan  totem,  common  to  all  members  of  the 

15  Jones,  W. — "The  Algonkin  Manitou,"  Jour.  Amcr.  Folk-Lore,  vol. 
xviii,  pp.  183-190.  1G  Frazor,  J.  G. — Totemism,  p.  1. 

IT  Goklenweiser,  A.  A. — "Totemism,  An  Analytical  Study,"  Jour.  Amer. 
Folk-Lore,  vol.  xxiii,  April-June,  1010,  no.  Ixxxviii. 


246  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

clan,  and  hereditary;  the  sex  totem,  one  common  to  all 
males,  another  common  to  all  females,  of  a  tribe ;  and  the 
individual  totem,  belonging  to  a  single  individual,  and 
not  hereditary.  Moreover,  totemism  is  to  be  distin- 
guished from  fetishism.  A  totem  is  a  class  of  objects. 
If  the  eagle  is  the  totem  of  a  clan,  all  eagles  are  held  in 
sacred  veneration  by  all  members  of  the  clan.  A  fetish 
is  an  individual  object,  not  a  class  of  objects.18 

We  first  noted  that  totemism  is  related  to  exogamy. 
In  British  Columbia  the  local  clan  or  family  is  the  im- 
portant social  unit  among  the  Tlingit,  Haida,  Tsimshian, 
and  Kwakiutl.19  The  Tlingit  people  comprise  fourteen 
divisions  each  consisting  of  several  towns.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  there  are  two  strictly  exogamous  phratries,  with 
descent  through  the  mother.  These  phratries  are  sub- 
divided into  clans  which  generally  derive  their  names 
from  the  locality  they  originally  occupied, — "Of  the 
Island  of  Teqo,"  "Of  the  House  in  the  Middle  of  the 
Valley,"  etc.20  Among  the  Haida  we  find  two  exogamous 
metronymic  clans.  The  members  of  one  clan  are  re- 
garded as  closely  related,  and  marriage  between  persons 
of  the  same  clan  is  viewed  by  them  with  almost  the  same 
abhorrence  as  incest  is  looked  upon  by  us.21  The 
Tsimshian  clans  are  also  exogamous  and  metronymic. 
The  northern  Kwakiutl  are  organized  like  the  Tsimshian, 
with  the  exception  of  descent,  which  is  both  maternal  and 
paternal.  The  system  of  descent  among  the  southern 
Kwakiutl  presents  an  interesting  example  of  what  is 

is  Frazer,  op.  cit.,  pp.  2,  15,  53,  56. 

19  Boas,    F. — Internationaler    Amerikanisten    Kongress    Stuttgart,    1904, 
vol.  xiv,  pp.  141-148. 

20  Swanton,  J.  R. — Racial  Conditions,  Beliefs,  and  Linguistic  Relationship 
of  the  Tlingit  Indians,  26th.  Report  Bureau  Amer.  Ethnology,  pp.  396-399. 

21  Ibid. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  247 

probably  a  transition  from  male  to  female  descent. 
Through  marriage,  a  man  acquires  the  position  and  privi- 
leges of  his  father-in-law  which  he  cannot  use  for  him- 
self but  transmits  to  his  son.  These  are  unmistakable 
indications  of  a  former  descent  through  the  father.22 
But  the  clans  are  not  exogamous.  Indeed,  a  woman  is 
advised  to  marry  in  her  clan.  The  custom  of  marrying  a 
member  of  the  same  clan  and  of  never  making  matrimo- 
nial alliance  with  outsiders,  is  called  endogamy.  The  two 
phratries  of  the  Tlingit  are  Raven  and  Wolf.  The  exog- 
amy of  the  British  Columbian  Indians  does  not  seem  to  be 
indissolubly  bound  up  with  their  system  of  totemism,  so 
that  we  cannot  always  expect  totemism  to  appear  in  con- 
nection with  exogamy.  Although  many  of  the  clans  and 
family  names  of  these  peoples  are  animal  names,  the  clans 
of  the  Tlingit  and  the  families  of  the  Haida  bear  names 
derived  from  localities.  Thus  the  institution  of  totem- 
ism may  exist  without  there  being  derivation  of  the  clan 
name  from  the  totem. 

The  British  Columbian  Indians  do  not  generally  be- 
lieve that  the  clan  descended  from  the  totem  animal.  In 
the  most  common  type  of  tradition  found  among  the 
Tlingit,  Haida,  and  Tsimshian,  the  ancestors  of  the  clan 
or  family  were  believed  to  have  come  into  relations  with 
some  animal  in  the  early  historical  period  and  to  have 
derived  from  this  animal  the  clan  name.  One  of  these 
traditions  is  somewhat  as  follows :  some  people  captured 
a  small  beaver  and  kept  it  as  a  pet  because  it  was  cun- 
ning and  very  clean.  It  was  well  cared  for,  but  by  and 
by  it  took  offense  at  something  and  began  to  compose 
songs.  Afterward  one  of  the  beaver's  masters  went 

22  Boas,  F. — The  Social  Organization  and  Secret  Societies  of  the  Kwakiutl 
Indians,  Report  of  the  U.  8.  Nat'l  Museum,  1895,  pp.  334-5,  431. 


248  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

through  the  woods  to  a  certain  salmon  creek,  and  found 
two  salmon-spear  handles,  beautifully  carved,  standing 
at  the  foot  of  a  big  tree.  When  he  carried  them  home, 
the  beaver  said  that  they  were  his  make.  Then  the 
people  said  something  that  offended  it  again,  whereupon 
the  beaver  began,  to  every  one's  surprise,  to  sing  just 
like  a  human  being.  While  singing,  it  seized  a  spear  and 
threw  it  straight  through  its  master's  chest,  killing  him 
instantly.  Then  it  threw  its  tail  down  upon  the  ground 
and  the  earth  upon  which  the  house  stood  dropped  in. 
They  found  afterwards  that  the  beaver  had  been  digging 
out  the  earth  under  the  camp  to  make  a  great  hollow. 
The  people  who  had  this  experience,  claim  the  Beaver 
as  their  crest  and  are  proud  to  possess  the  songs  com- 
posed by  him.23  In  other  traditions  of  the  same  sort 
there  is  no  indication  that  the  clan  is  thought  of  as  having 
descended  from  the  totem  animal.  The  grizzly  bear  crest 
was  obtained  by  a  man  who  married  a  she-bear.24  In 
some  cases  it  was  believed  that  the  crest  animal  came  to 
earth  and  became  a  man,  the  ancestor  of  the  clan.25  In 
the  case  of  the  Thunder-Bird,  it  is  related  that  Too- 
Large,  the  Thunder-Bird,  flew  with  his  wife  through  the 
door  of  the  upper  world  down  to  the  lower  world  of  men 
where  there  was  a  man  at  work  upon  his  house.  This 
man  called  to  them  that  they  should  become  men  and  help 
him.  Too-Large  at  once  lifted  the  jaw  of  his  thunder- 
bird  mask,  and  said,  "0  brother!  we  are  people."  In 
these  legends  the  ancestor  is  first  an  animal,  but  becomes 
a  man  by  taking  off  his  animal  mask.20  Thus  the  concept 

23  Rwanton,  J.  R. — Tlingit  MytJis  antl  Texts,  Bureau  of  Amer.  Ethnol., 
bul.  39,   1909,  p.  227. 
2*  Ibid.,  pp.   228-229. 

25  Boas,  op.  cit.,  p.  382. 

26  Boas  and  Hunt,  Kwakiutl  Tcr**    J**un  Expedition,  vol.   iii,   1905. 


From  the  Reports  of  tho  Bureau  of  Ameriean  Ethnology. 

FIGURE  77.  Indian  Masks  from  the  Pacific  Coast. 
Mask  of  the  Thunder- Bird  and  Crest  of  the  Killer 
Whale. 


250  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

of  descent  from  the  totem  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
totemic  system  is  absent  in  British  Columbia.27 

The  taboo  is  not  associated  with  totemism  among  the 
British  Columbian  tribes.28  After  the  birth  of  a  child 
the  woman  must  not  eat  any  fresh  meat  for  a  period  of 
from  six  months  to  one  year.  The  husband  must  not 
eat  or  touch  the  flesh  of  any  animal  for  at  least  a  day 
after  it  has  been  killed.  Twins  are  considered  trans- 
formed salmon;  and  as  the  children  of  salmon  they  are 
guarded  against  going  near  the  water  for  fear  that  they 
will  be  retransfonned  into  salmon.  Their  mother's  marks 
are  regarded  as  the  scars  of  wounds  which  they  received 
when  they  were  struck  by  a  harpoon  while  still  having 
the  shape  of  a  salmon.29  The  Kwakiutl  do  not  eat  deer, 
because  that  would  make  them  forgetful.  Thus  we  see 
that  the  relation  of  the  people  to  their  crest  is  one  of 
historical  association,  rather  than  one  of  descent;  and 
taboo  is  not  here  an  important  feature  of  totemism. 

The  ceremonial  life  of  the  British  Columbian  Indians  is 
quite  elaborate.  When  an  Indian  kills  an  animal  the 
element  of  propitiation  is  usually  strongly  emphasized. 
Having  killed  a  bear,  the  Lillooet  hunter  sings  a  mourn- 
ing song  as  follows:  "You  died  first,  greatest  of  animals. 
We  respect  you  and  will  treat  you  accordingly.  No 
woman  shall  eat  your  flesh;  no  dogs  shall  insult  you. 
May  the  lesser  animals  follow  you,  and  die  by  our  traps, 
snares,  and  arrows!  May  we  now  kill  much  game,  and 
may  the  goods  of  those  we  gamble  with  follow  us  and 
come  into  our  possession!  May  the  goods  of  those  we 
play  lehal  with  become  completely  ours,  even  as  an  ani- 

27  Goldenweiser,  op.  cit.,  p.  18. 

28  Ibid.,  p.  22. 

2»  Boas,  British  Assoc.  Adv.  of  /Set.,  vol.  59,  5th.  Kept.,  p.  51. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  251 

mal  slain  by  us !" 30  When  the  berries  are  ripe  the  chief 
summons  all  the  people  and  announces  that  the  time  for 
picking  has  arrived.  Before  the  people,  who  have 
painted  themselves  in  honor  of  the  magical  ceremony, 
the  chief  holds  a  birch-bark  tray  containing  some  of  the 
ripe  berries  and  points  the  tray  towards  the  highest 
mountain  in  sight,  announcing  to  this  mountain  that  the 
people  are  going  to  eat  fruit.  After  this  each  of  the 
group  is  given  a  berry  to  eat,  and  all  then  proceed  to 
pick  berries. 

The  system  of  guardian  spirits  and  secret  societies 
which  has  developed  among  the  southern  Kwakiutl  is 
unique  among  primitive  peoples.  Each  clan  derives  its 
origin  from  a  mythical  ancestor,  on  whose  adventures 
the  crests  and  privileges  of  the  clan  depend.  This  an- 
cestor in  the  course  of  his  adventures,  meets  a  certain 
animal,  and  in  a  variety  of  ways  obtains  from  him  super- 
natural powers  or  magical  objects:  such  as,  "the  magic 
harpoon,"  which  insures  success  in  sea-otter  hunting; 
"the  water  of  life,"  which  resuscitates  the  dead,  and  other 
objects  of  a  similar  magical  power.  He  obtains  besides 
these  things,  a  dance,  a  song,  and  cries  which  are  peculiar 
to  each  spirit,  as  well  as  the  right  to  use  certain  peculiar 
carvings.  The  dance  is  always  a  dramatic  presentation 
of  the  myth  in  which  the  ancestor  acquired  the  gifts  of 
the  spirit.  These  spirits  are  animals — the  bear,  wolf, 
sea-lion,  killer-whales— which  have  become  the  protectors 
of  men.31 

Guardian  spirits  are  acquired  individually  by  young 
men.  They  are  spirits  which  protect  the  young  man  and 
give  him  powers  of  invulnerability.  One  such  spirit  is 
"Making-War-All-Over-the-Earth,"  under  whose  protec- 

30  Teit,  Jesup  Exped.,  vol.  ii,  p.  279.         si  Boas,  Kwakiutl,  pp.  334-396. 


252  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

tion  the  youth  may  obtain  three  powers.    Another  spirit 
who  grants  to  his  wards  nine  powers  is,  "The-First-One- 
to-Eat-Man-a^-the-Mouth-of-the-River."     These     spirits 
are  hereditary  and  their  number  is  limited  to  various 
clans  in  different  tribes.     As  they  appear  only  in  winter, 
the  ceremonials  connected  with  them  are  held  in  the  win- 
ter.    During  the  rest  of  the  year  the  Indians  are  organ- 
ized, in  common  with  other  Pacific  Coast  tribes,  in  a  sys- 
tem of  three  classes — nobility,  common  people,  and  slaves. 
As  the  slaves  are  rated  on  a  par  with  personal  property, 
the  social  structure  really  consists  of  the  nobles  and  com- 
mon people.     These  two  classes  comprise  the  clans  and 
families.     The  ancestor  of  each  family  has  a  tradition 
of  his  own,  apart  from  the  clan  tradition,  and  possesses 
certain  crests  and  privileges.     In  each  family  the  single 
man  who  impersonates  the  ancestor  and  enjoys  his  rank 
and  privileges,  is  one  of  the  nobility.     Nobles  range  in  im- 
portance according  to  the  rank  of  their  ancestors.     Dnr- 
ing  the  period  of  the  winter  ceremonial  this  social  order 
is   thoroughly  rearranged.     Individuals   are  no   longer 
grouped  according  to  clans  and  families,  but  according 
to  the  spirits  that  have  initiated  them.     At  this  time  the 
people  are  divided  into  two  main  groups — the  initiated, 
called  " seals, "  and  the  uninitiated,  called  "sparrows." 
Throughout  the  ceremonies  these  two  groups  are  hostile 
to  one  another,  and  the  "seals"  attack  and  torment  the 
"sparrows."32 

Throughout  these  ceremonies  there  is  continuous  use 
of  elaborately  carved  wooden  masks.  When  an  Indian 
has  on  one  of  these  grotesque  masks  he  is  regarded  by 
the  people  as  impersonating  the  spirit  who  gave  the  mask. 
These  masks  are  painted  and  carved  to  represent  certain 

32  Ibid.,  pp.  399-499. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY 


253 


animals.3-'5  The  two  dominant  tendencies  seem  to  be  to 
represent  the  entire  animal,  or  to  single  out  some  charac- 
teristic feature  of  the  animal  which  serves  as  an  unmis- 
takable mark  of  identification.  Although  many  of  these 
carvings  are  most  realistic,  some  have  been  so  far  con- 
ventionalized that  identification  is  difficult.  Besides 


78. 


tote 


Poles. 


these  carved  masks  there  are  the  familiar  totem  poles 
which  stand  before  the  houses  of  the  Indians.34  These 
generally  represent  the  history  of  the  clan  or  f  amliy.  *  *  In 
the  prolific  development  of  art — realistic  in  part  and  in 
part  highly  conventionalized — we  must  see  the  .  .  .  dyna- 
mic element  of  the  totemism  of  British  Columbia. 
Deeply  saturated  with  totemic  associations,  that  art  has 

33  See  figure  77.  34  See  figure  78. 


254  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

flooded  the  entire  material  culture  of  the  area,  and  has 
thus  become  the  most  conspicuous  factor  in  the  cere- 
monial as  well  as  the  daily  life  of  the  people.  Nay,  the 
art  of  British  Columbia  is  more  than  merely  an  impor- 
tant factor  of  totemism,  for  it  has  become  a  self-perpetu- 
ating source  of  totemistic  suggestion. ' ' 35 

The  phratry,  which  we  found  so  characteristic  of  the 
Iroquois  organization,  is  a  constant  feature  in  the  social 
organization  of  Australian  tribes.  There  are  usually 
two  phratries  which  are  exogamous.  The  Dieri  tribe  is 
divided  into  two  exogamous  phratries,  Kararu  and  Mat- 
teri,  each  of  which  comprises  a  number  of  totemic  clans. 
Among  the  Arabana  these  two  exogamous  phratries  are 
known  as  the  Kirarawa  and  Matthurie.  In  both  these 
tribes  the  mother's  phratry  and  totem  are  inherited. 
But  the  social  system  is  not  as  simple  as  this  among  all 
of  the  Australian  tribes.  The  Kamilaroi  are  divided  into 
two  exogamous  phratries,  but  in  addition,  each  phratry 
comprises  two  classes,  while  each  class  contains  parts  of 
all  the  clans  of  one  phratry.  In  the  Warramunga  tribes 
conditions  are  even  more  complex.36  Thus  the  social  or- 
ganization of  these  most  primitive  peoples  is  quite  com- 
plicated. But  the  matrimonial  classes,  which  constitute 
the  complicating  factor,  do  not  usually  bear  animal  or 
plant  names;  it  is  the  clans  which  invariably  derive 
their  names  from  their  animal,  plant,  or  inanimate 
totems. 

The  Australian  natives  have  various  traditions  of  de- 
scent from  the  totem.  The  Arabana  legends  tell  of  small 
companies  of  half -human,  half-animal  individuals  of  un- 

35  Goldenweiser,  op.   cit.,  p.  50. 

seHowitt,  A.  W. — The  Native  Tribes  of  Southeast  Australia,  1904,  pp. 
103-199. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  255 

known  origin,  who  wandered  about  in  the  mythical  period 
(alcheringa).  They  were  possessed  of  superhuman 
power,  and  became  the  ancestors  of  the  totemic  groups. 
A  great  carpet-snake  individual  gave  rise  to  the  carpet- 
snake  group.  In  their  wanderings  over  the  country 
these  strange  individuals  performed  sacred  ceremonies. 
At  places  where  they  stopped  and  went  into  the  ground, 
a  rock  or  water-pool  arose  to  mark  the  spot.  Here  a 
number  of  spirit  individuals  came  into  being  who  became 
transformed  into  men  and  women, — the  first  totemites. 
In  the  Aranda  alcheringa  there  were  no  human  beings 
but  only  incomplete  creatures  of  various  shapes.  "They 
had  no  distinct  limbs  or  organs  of  sight,  hearing,  or  smell, 
did  not  eat  food,  and  presented  the  appearance  of  human 
beings  all  doubled  up  into  a  rounded  mass,  in  which  just 
the  outline  of  the  different  parts  of  the  body  could  be 
vaguely  seen. ' '  37  The  Ungambikula  ( ' '  Out-of -Nothing, ' ' 
"Self-Existing")  took  hold  of  these  creatures,  and  by 
means  of  a  complicated  surgical  operation  shaped  them 
into  men  and  women. 

In  Australia,  the  taboo  plays  an  important  part  in  con- 
nection with  the  totemic  system.  A  member  of  the 
Arabana  must  not  eat  the  totem  animal,  but  can  kill  it 
and  hand  it  over  to  the  members  of  other  totem  groups 
to  be  eaten  by  them.38  A  kangaroo  man  must  not  kill  a 
kangaroo  with  any  show  of  brutality.  He  is  only  per- 
mitted to  hit  it  on  the  neck.  Then  he  can  eat  its  head, 
feet,  and  liver ;  the  rest  he  must  leave  to  his  friends.  The 
mosquito  man  may  neither  kill  nor  eat  insects.  The  rain 
man  must  use  water  moderately,  and  when  it  rains  must 

37  Spencer  and  Gillen. — The  Northern  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  1904, 
pp.  145-146,  and  The  Native  Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  1899,  p.  388. 
ss  Spencer  and  Gillen,  The  Northern  Tribes,  etc.,  p.  149. 


256  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

stand  in  the  open  with  no  protection  over  his  head  other 
than  his  shield.'59 

Magical  ceremonies  are  an  important  part  of  the  insti- 
tution of  totemism  in  Australia.  Among  the  Aranda,  the 
main  part  of  the  intichiuma  ceremonies  consists  of  a 
series  of  magical  rites  supposed  to  further  the  increase 
of  the  totem  animal.  The  kangaroo  totem  intichiuma  is 
quite  spectacular.  The  ceremony  is  performed  at  a  spot 
where  in  the  dickering  a  many  kangaroo  animals  went 
into  the  ground.  The  rock  ledge  is  decorated  with  red 
ocher  and  powdered  gypsum  in  alternate  vertical  lines 
about  a  foot  in  width  to  represent  the  red  fur  and  the 
white  bones  of  the  kangaroo.40  Men  of  opposite  phratries 
do  this  painting;  the  painting  of  the  left  side  being  done 
by  the  Panunga  and  the  Bulthara  men,  and  that  of  the 
right  by  the  Purula  and  Kumara  men.  These  men  then 
sit  by  phratries  on  the  sides  they  have  respectively 
painted.  "They  open  the  veins  in  their  arms,  and  allow 
the  blood  to  spurtle  out  over  the  edge  of  the  ceremonial 
stone  on  the  top  of  which  they  are  seated.  While  this 
is  taking  place,  the  men  below  sit  still,  watching  the  per- 
formers, and  singing  chants  referring  to  the  increase  of 
the  numbers  of 'the  kangaroos  which  the  ceremony  is 
supposed  to  insure."  41  The  pouring  out  of  the  blood  of 
kangaroo  men  upon  the  rocks  drives  out  in  all  directions 
the  spirits  of  the  kangaroo  animals  and  the  number  of 
kangaroo  is  increased.42 

Sections  of  the  territory  frequented  by  the  Aranda  are 
dotted  with  totem  centers.  Alcheringa  ancestors  are 

3»  Spencer  and  Gillen,  The  Native  Tribes,  etc.,  p.  166. 
40/&M.,  p.  201. 

*i  Strehlow,  C. — Die  Aranda  und  Loritja-Stamme  in  Zentral-Australien, 
vol.  i,  pt.  II,  1908,  p.  59. 

*2  Spencer  and  Gillen,  op.  cit.,  p.  206. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  257 

represented  as  carrying  with  them  one  or  more  sacred 
stones  or  churinga,  each  one  of  which  was  associated  with 
the  spirit  part  of  some  individual.  At  the  spots  where 
the  ancestors  originated  and  stayed,  or  at  the  camping- 
places  where  they  stopped  during  their  wanderings,  local 
totem  centers  arose ;  for  at  such  spots  a  number  of  the 
ancestors  went  into  the  ground  with  their  churinga. 
Their  bodies  died,  but  a  tree  or  a  rock  arose  to  mark  the 
spot.  But  another  spirit  issues  from  the  sacred  tree  or 
rock  and  watches  over  the  ancestral  spirit.  Among  the 
Kaitish  it  is  believed  that  the  ancestors  leave  behind  them 
spirit  children  who  emanate  from  their  bodies  during  the 
performance  of  sacred  ceremonies.  These  spirit  children 
are  reborn  by  entering  the  bodies  of  women  who  pass 
near  the  spots  haunted  by  such  spirits.  Male  children 
dwell  in  rocks,  trees,  or  mistle-branches ;  female  children, 
in  rock  crevices.43 

The  contrast  of  totemic  systems  in  these  different  ter- 
ritories, Australia  and  British  Columbia,  reveals  the  fact 
that  each  people  has  its  own  characteristic  institution. 
Indeed,  any  effort  to  show  that  totemism  is  invariably 
associated  with  the  five  features  mentioned  is  doomed  to 
failure.  We  are  bound  to  recognize  that  primitive  peo- 
ples have  their  own  individuality,  as  persons  and  collec- 
tively. It  is  not  possible  to  lump  all  savage  peoples  to- 
gether and  make  dogmatic  generalizations  about  them. 
Primitive  men  have  their  own  distinctive  marks  of  cus- 
tom and  culture,  just  as  modern  men  have,  and  sociologic- 
ally we  can  distinguish  many  different  types  of  social 
structure  just  as  physically  we  find  different  racial  varie- 
ties. 

The  ceremonial  activities  of  primitive  peoples  are,  a 
43  GoJdenweiser,  op.  eit.f  p,  31, 


258  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

very  important  part  of  their  life.44  In  Australia,  the 
natives  devote  much  time  to  the  initiation  of  the  young- 
men  into  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  tribe.  These 
initiation  ceremonies  are  regarded  as  such  an  important 
means  of  conserving  the  traditions  of  the  people,  that 
the  whole  tribe  occupies  itself  for  three  months  together 
with  these  elaborate  functions.  The  education  of  the 
Australian  boy  includes  three  sets  of  ceremonies.  When 
the  boy  has  reached  the  age  of  twelve,  the  first  ceremony 
of  ' '  throwing  up  in  the  air ' '  is  performed.  Then  his  nose 
is  bored  for  a  nose-ring.  Three  or  four  years  later,  at 
puberty,  far  more  formidable  ceremonies  are  undertaken 
and  a  very  painful  operation  is  undergone.  These  rites 
last  ten  days,  during  which  the  boy  must  not  speak  except 
to  answer  questions.  He  is  pledged  to  secrecy  concern- 
ing all  that  he  sees  and  hears.  He  is  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  obeying  the  tribal  precepts  and  learns 
reverence  for  the  superiority  of  the  old  men.  At  the  age 
of  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  a  still  more  impressive 
series  of  rites  is  conducted  which  often  lasts  for  several 
months.  In  this  period  there  are  dances  and  the  churinga 
or  sacred  emblems  are  exhibited.  Ceremonies  imitating 
various  totem  animals  are  performed  with  elaborate  cos- 
tumes. The  young  man  is  made  to  feel  his  importance 
and  responsibility  in  this  initiation  into  all  the  mysteries 
of  the  clan.  The  feeling  of  reverence  for  the  old  men 
which  is  inculcated  and  the  sense  of  pride  at  the  posses- 
sion of  all  this  mysterious  knowledge,  tends  to  develop  a 
deeper  sense  of  unity  and  tribal  cohesion.45 

The  ceremonial  life  of  primitive  peoples  is  bound  up 
with  a  belief  in  magic.     This  belief  is  supplemented  in 

44  See  figure  79. 

45  Spencer  and  Gillen,  op.  cit.,  chs.  vii-ix;  and  Chapin,  op.  cit.,  pp.  36-40. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  261 

the  minds  of  peoples  that  have  made  some  advance  be- 
yond the  lowest  savagery  by  a  belief  in  personal  spirits 
or  ghosts.  The  basis  of  magic  is  the  "mana,"  already 
mentioned. 

Frazer  reduces  the  fundamental  principles  of  magic 
to  two:  first,  that  like  produces  like,  or  that  an 
effect  resembles  its  cause;  and  second,  that  things  which 
have  once  been  in  contact,  but  have  ceased  to  be  so, 
continue  to  act  on  each  other  as  if  the  contact  still  per- 
sisted. The  savage  infers  from  the  first  of  these  prin- 
ciples that  he  can  produce  any  desired  effect  by  merely 
imitating  it ;  from  the  second  principle  he  concludes  that 
he  can  influence  at  pleasure  and  at  any  distance,  any  per- 
son of  whom,  or  any  thing  of  which  he  possesses  a 
particle.  Magic  of  the  first  sort  Frazer  has  called  ''imi- 
tative magic, ' '  and  magic  of  the  second  kind  he  has  called 
"sympathetic  magic."  But  inasmuch  as  the  efficacy  of 
the  imitative  magic  depends  upon  a  certain  physical  in- 
fluence or  sympathy,  both  kinds  of  magic  may  be  con- 
veniently called  sympathetic  magic. 

The  most  familiar  application  of  imitative  magic  based 
upon  the  principle  that  like  produces  like,  is  the  attempt 
to  injure  or  destroy  an  enemy  by  mutilating  or  destroy- 
ing an  image  of  him,  in  the  belief  that,  just  as  the 
image  is  hurt,  so  does  the  man  suffer  and  die  when  the 
image  perishes.46  The  Ojebway  Indian  desiring  to  work 
evil  to  his  enemy,  makes  a  little  wooden  image  of  him 
and  runs  a  needle  into  its  head  or  heart,  or  he  shoots  an 
arrow  into  it,  for  he  believes  that  by  so  doing  his  foe 
will  at  the  same  instant  be  seized  with  a  sharp  pain  in 
the  corresponding  part  of  his  body.  A  Malay  charm 
which  enables  one  to  injure  another  person  is  to  take 

46  Frazer,  J.  G. — The  Golden  Bough,  2nd.  ed.,  vol.  i,  pp.  9-74. 


262  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

the  parings  of  nails,  hair,  eyebrows,  and  spittle  of  the 
victim,  enough  to  represent  every  part  of  his  person,  and 
then  make  them  up  into  his  likeness  with  wax  from  a 
deserted  bee's  comb.  The  figure  must  be  scorched  slowly 
over  a  lamp  every  night  for  seven  nights,  with  the  fol- 
lowing words: 

"  It  is  not  wax  that  I  am  scorching, 
It  is  the  liver,  heart,  and  spleen  of  So-and-so  that  I  scorch. ' ' 

After  the  seventh  time  the  figure  must  be  burned,  and 
the  victim  will  die.47 

On  the  principle  that  like  produces  like,  the  savage 
does  many  things  in  deliberate  imitation  of  the  results 
which  he  seeks  to  attain.  The  Indians  of  British  Colum- 
bia live  largely  upon  the  fish  of  their  seas  and  rivers.  If 
the  fish  do  not  come  in  the  expected  season  and  the 
Indians  are  in  need  of  food,  a  wizard  will  make  an 
image  of  a  swimming  fish  and  place  it  in  the  water  in  the 
direction  from  which  the  fish  usually  appear.  This 
ceremony  when  accompanied  by  a  prayer  that  the  fish 
may  come,  will  cause  them  to  arrive  at  once.  Some  of 
the  tribes  of  Central  Australia  subsist  upon  a  certain 
grub,  called  the  witchetty  grub.  They  hold  a  ceremony 
which  consists  of  a  pantomime  representing  the  fully- 
developed  insect  in  the  act  of  emerging  from  the  chrysa- 
lis. A  long  narrow  structure  of  branches  is  sot  up  to 
imitate  the  chrysalis  case  of  the  grub.  In  this  structure  a 
number  of  men,  who  have  the  grub  for  their  totem,  sit 
and  sing  of  the  creature  in  its  various  stages.  After  this 
they  shuffle  out  of  it  in  a  squatting  posture,  and  as  they  do 
so,  they  sing  of  the  insect  emerging  from  the  chrysalis. 

47  Ibid. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  263 

This  rite  is  supposed  to  increase  the  number  of  the  grubs 
and  give  the  people  a  larger  food  supply.48 

The  Indian  medicine-men  perform  certain  magical 
practices  which  are  supposed  to  effect  the  well-being  of 
their  friends  or  enemies.  Their  supernatural  powers 
are  also  invoked  to  cure  disease  and  sickness.  But  the 
savage's  notion  of  disease,  of  the  cause  of  illness,  is  es- 
sentially different  from  the  modern  man's  understanding 
of  it.  To  the  savage,  a  disease  or  sickness  is  always  evi- 
dence that  the  victim  is  possessed  by  an  evil  spirit  or  that 
he  has  been  bewitched  by  evil  magic.  If  a  wound  bleeds 
excessively,  it  may  be  thought  that  some  malignant  spirit 
is  sucking  the  blood  of  the  injured  person.  Chants,  ac- 
companied by  the  beating  of  drums,  are  undertaken  with 
the  idea  that  by  these  means  the  evil  spirit  may  be  fright- 
ened away  and  the  bleeding  stopped.  Sometimes  a  sav- 
age dreams  that  one  of  the  medicine-men  has  got  some  of 
his  hair,  or  a  piece  of  his  food  or  clothing,  or  indeed  any- 
thing that  he  has  used.  Should  he  dream  this  several 
times  he  feels  sure  that  it  is  so,  and  he  calls  his  friends 
together  and  tells  them  that  he  has  been  dreaming  about 
a  man  who  must  have  something  belonging  to  him.  His 
friends  go  and  ask  the  man  if  he  has  anything  belonging 
to  the  other.  The  medicine-man  usually  denies  it,  but 
if  he  sees  no  other  way  out  of  it  he  makes  the  excuse 
that  he  has  something  that  he  is  burning,  but  that  it  was 
given  him  to  burn,  and  that  he  did  not  know  to  whom  it 
belonged.  In  such  a  case  he  will  give  the  thing  to  the 
friends  of  the  sick  man,  telling  them  to  put  it  in  water 
to  put  the  fire  out ;  and  when  this  has  been  done,  the  man 
will  probably  feel  better.  Sometimes  a  medicine-man 
may  suck  an  evil  spirit  out  of  an  affected  part,  thus  effect- 

48  Hid. 


264  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

ing  a  cure.  The  Tongaranka  medicine-man,  when  about 
to  practise  his  art,  sits  down  on  the  windward  side  of  his 
patient,  and  his  power  is  supposed  to  pass  to  the  sick 
person  "like  smoke."  The  medicine-man  then  sucks  the 
affected  part,  and  withdraws  his  power  out  of  him,  and 
also  at  the  same  time  the  pain,  usually  in  the  form  of  a 
quartz  crystal.49  Magical  ceremonies  are  performed 
with  the  object  of  treating  the  soul  of  the  crop  in  order 
that  the  yield  may  be  abundant.  Harvest  ceremonials 
are  survivals  of  the  primitive  practice  of  treating  the 
soul  of  the  crop. 

The  primitive  man's  belief  in  "mana"  magic  and  in 
spirits  is  directly  related  to  his  religion.  There  is  no 
support  for  the  statement  that  there  exist  tribes  which 
have  no  religion.  Such  statements  are  based  upon  the 
idea  that  organized  systems  of  theology  alone  constitute 
religion.  Hence,  any  recognition  of  the  universality  of 
religion  depends  somewhat  upon  the  definition  of  religion 
which  we  have  in  mind  when  we  affirm  or  deny  that  a  cer- 
tain tribe  has  a  religion.  The  definition  of  religion  most 
generally  accepted  among  anthropologists  was  advanced 
by  Professor  E.  B.  Tylor  in  his  work,  "Primitive  Cul- 
ture," as  "the  belief  in  spiritual  beings."50  Under  the 
name  of  Animism,  Tylor  investigated  the  various  forms 
of  this  belief  in  spiritual  beings.  Animism  divides  into 
two  great  dogmas,  forming  parts  of  one  consistent  doc- 
trine: first,  concerning  souls  of  individual  creatures, 
capable  of  continued  existence  after  death  or  destruction 
of  the  body;  second,  concerning  other  spirits,  upward  to 
the  rank  of  powerful  deities. 

There  were  two  problems  which  deeply  impressed  the 

«Howitt,  op.  cit.,  pp.  355-396. 

so  Tylor,  E.  B. — Primitive  Culture,  1891,  vol.  i,  pp.  417-431. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  265 

thinking  savage.  What  is  it  that  makes  the  difference 
between  a  living  body  and  a  dead  one ;  what  causes  wak- 
ing, sleep,  trance,  disease,  death?  What  are  those  hu- 
man shapes  which  appear  in  dreams  and  visions? 

"But  in  the  very  process  of  reflecting  upon  its  own 
ideas  the  mind  of  man  was  beginning  to  look  in  upon 
itself  and  to  apprehend  phenomena  of  which  the  animal 
mind  has  never  been  conscious.  It  was  beginning  to 
have  ideas  of  ideas;  ideas  of  volition,  life,  and  cause; 
ideas  of  the  sources  of  those  manifestations  of  power 
that  had  awakened  wonder  and  fear.  It  was  beginning 
to  perceive  an  intangible  world." 

"Now  for  the  first  time  man  analyzed  himself.  Ordi- 
narily thought  and  body  seemed  to  be  inseparable.  Or- 
dinarily the  bodies  of  other  men  seemed  like  his  own; 
they  acted  like  his  own  and  responded  so  perfectly  to  his 
spoken  or  acted  thought  that  in  them  also  body  and 
thought  seemed  to  be  a  concrete  whole.  But  he  had  seen 
them  when  they  responded  no  more.  It  was  as  if  some- 
thing real,  though  impalpable  and  evasive,  had  departed 
with  the  breath.  Were  there  then,  after  all,  in  every 
man  two  selves?  It  seemed  almost  as  if  there  might  be, 
and  the  longer  primitive  man  thought  about  this  question 
and  talked  about  it  with  his  comrades,  the  more  probable 
to  his  mind  did  the  affirmative  answer  become.  His  own 
experiences  seemed  to  furnish  the  final  proof.  Had  he 
not  often  in  imaginative  moods  witnessed  things  not  visi 
ble  to  the  bodily  eye?  Had  he  not  repeatedly  in  dreams 
wandered  far  in  the  forest,  while  his  body  lay  motionless 
in  sleep?" 

"So  in  the  individual  and  in  the  social  mind  was  born 
at  last  the  idea  of  the  self,  or  personality,  as  a  conscious 
life,  soul,  or  spirit,  dwelling  in  the  body  but  distinct  and 


266  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

separable  from  it."  51  All  these  varied  experiences  have 
developed  the  concept  of  a  soul  which  lives  after  the 
death  of  the  body,  of  a  thin  unsubstantial  human  image, 
in  its  nature  a  sort  of  vapor,  a  film,  a  shadow,  the  cause 
of  life  and  thought  in  the  individual  it  animates,  capable 
of  leaving  the  body  far  behind  to  flash  swiftly  from  place 
to  place,  invisible  yet  manifesting  physical  powers.  The 
Indian  believes  that  during  sleep  the  human  spirit  wan- 
ders about  and  actually  lives  through  the  dream  experi- 
ences which  are  remembered  upon  awakening.  Hence 
some  Indians  never  wake  a  sleeping  man  suddenly,  be- 
cause his  soul  might  be  wandering  far  distant  and  might 
not  get  back  to  the  body  in  time.  With  the  healthy  wak- 
ing life,  the  savage  associates  the  phenomena  of  breath, 
shadow,  and  echo.  Walking  in  the  sunlight,  he  always 
saw  a  shadow  that  moved  as  he  moved  or  was  motionless 
when  he  stood  still,  but  which  never  completely  detached 
itself  from  him.  To  his  mind  this  could  be  none  other 
than  a  conscious  self,  belonging  to  the  bodily  self  and 
usually  merged  in  it,  but  capable  of  going  away  to  live 
independently.  Looking  in  the  pool,  the  savage  saw  the 
shadow  self  more  distinctly,  and  it  behaved  as  before. 
In  the  mountains  his  voice  reechoed.  Thus  he  came  to 
believe  that  his  double  self  could  be  far  away  and  invisi- 
ble, and  yet  speak,  preserving  all  the  identity  of  his 
proper  tone.52  Consequently  we  find  that  among  primi- 
tive peoples  the  spirit  and  the  shadow  are  synonymous 
terms.  The  Algonkins  describe  a  man's  soul  as  his 
shadow  (otahchuk).  The  Zulus  not  only  use  the  word 
t unzi  for  shadow,  spirit,  ghost ;  but  they  consider  that  at 
death  the  shadow  of  a  man  will  in  some  way  depart  from 

BiGiddings,  op.  (At.,  pp.  246-247. 
u/.,  p.  248. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  267 

the  corpse,  to  become  an  ancestral  spirit.     The  Caribs 
connect  the  pulses  with  spiritual  beings.53 

Since  there  was  a  spirit  separable  from  the  body, 
primitive  man  no  longer  thought  of  death  as  the  end  of 
conscious  life.  The  spirit  might  leave  the  body,  but  it 
might  return,  or  it  might  enter  other  bodies  or  objects 
dwelling  in  them  and  animating  them.  In  coma  the  body 
might  lie  for  days  in  a  state  indistinguishable  from  death. 
In  epilepsy  and  insanity  the  individual  is  obviously  not 
himself;  hence  the  savage  regards  his  body  as  animated 
by  some  foreign  or  evil  spirit.  To  this  day  the  ignorant 
believe  that  an  insane  person  is  "possessed,"  and  there 
is  current  usage  of  the  forms,  "he  is  not  in  his  right 
mind,"  and  "he  is  out  of  his  head."54  Thus,  it  has  be- 
come a  rooted  conviction  among  primitive  peoples  that 
ghosts  or  surviving  spirits  of  the  dead  sometimes 
come  back  to  their  proper  bodies,  but  oftener  wander 
through  the  air,  entering  now  into  one  person  or  object 
and  now  into  another.  The  world  is  regarded  as  peopled 
with  ghosts. 

But  primitive  men  attribute  to  all  external  objects, 
whether  animate  or  inanimate,  the  possession  either  of 
"mana,"  or  of  an  actuating  spirit.  The  tree,  the  stone, 
quite  as  much  as  the  human  being  or  the  swift  forest 
animal,  may  have  souls  and  are  moved  by  feelings  of 
love,  envy,  appetite,  curiosity,  and  desire.  Hence  all 
Nature  is  animated  by  spirits.  "Some  of  them  are  con- 
temptible and  man  can  abuse  them  or  use  them;  but 
others  are  terrible,  swift,  subtle,  or  mysterious  in  their 
action  and  fill  the  wondering  human  soul  with  mingled 
admiration  and  dread.  The  serpent  that  could  run  with- 
out legs,  the  turtle  that  could  breathe  air  or  live  in  water, 

ss  Tylor,  op.  cit.  5*  Giddings,  op.  cit.,  p.  249. 


268  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

the  hawk  that  could  see  its  prey  from  the  sky,  the  plant 
that  could  heal  or  poison,  the  tornado,  the  lightning,  and 
the  sun — these  were  beings  to  be  regarded  with  awe, 
and  to  be  propitiated  with  the  ceremonial  respect  ac- 
corded to  all-powerful  men. ' ' 55  Thus  the  savage  does 
not  believe  in  One  Spirit,  but  he  believes  in  many  spirits 
of  which  some  are  good,  others  are  bad  spirits.  The  lat- 
ter must  be  appeased  with  offerings  and  ritual,  lest  their 
cruel  plans  work  out  to  the  harm  of  men.  Sometimes 
their  evil  designs  may  be  overthrown  by  magic.  And  so 
the  mind  of  primitive  man  seems  to  us,  as  Bagehot  has 
so  aptly  put  it,  "tattooed  over  with  monstrous  images."  °6 
Life  experiences  are  a  confused  mass  of  mysterious  and 
inexplicable  happenings;  for  the  savage  has  failed  to 
make  that  "  rigid  distinction  between  the  subjective  and 
the  objective,  between  imagination  and  reality"57  which 
the  modern  man  is  accustomed  to  make.  Ideas  and 
images  are  repeatedly  confused  with  facts,  a  process 
which  leads  to  blind  gropings  after  wrong  causes. 

In  primitive  culture  the  different  fields  of  human 
thought  and  effort,  Law,  Religion,  Literature,  Music,  Art, 
Science  and  Magic,  are  not  clearly  differentiated  and 
conceived  of  as  more  or  less  separate  lines  of  endeavor; 
consequently  many  actions  which  we  regard  as  quite 
commonplace  and  unconnected  have  for  the  savage  defi- 
nite religious  significance  or  symbolic  meaning.  The 
traditional  material  in  their  culture  has  not  been  so  care- 
fully worked  over  and  checked  up  as  ours.  The  result 
is,  that  the  same  act  will  bring  to  the  mind  of  the  savage 
and  the  mind  of  the  civilized  man,  radically  different 

55  Giddings,  op.  tit.,  p.  247. 

so  Bagehot,  Physics  and  Politics,  p.  120. 

57  Tylor,  op.  tit. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  269 

associations,    and    hence    the    explanations    will    differ 
markedly. 

Primitive  people  have  in  general  two  theories  of  the 
human  soul.  The  idea  of  transmigration  of  souls,  and 
the  idea  of  an  independent  life  of  the  soul  after  the  death 
of  the  body.  The  idea  of  transmigration  is  illustrated  by 
the  belief  that  the  soul  of  the  dead  person  is  reincarnated 
in  the  body  of  the  next  born  child.  An  Indian  will  some- 
times bury  a  dead  child  under  the  spot  where  two  paths 
cross,  in  the  hope  that  the  soul  of  the  dead  child,  lingering 
near,  may  enter  the  body  of  some  woman  who  passes  that 
way  and  be  born  in  the  body  of  her  next  child.  There  is 
also  the  belief  that  animals  are  often  entered  by  the  souls 
of  departed  men.  Hence  there  arise  restrictions  as  to  the 
killing  of  certain  animals.  The  doctrine  of  the  independ- 
ent life  of  the  soul  after  death  takes  two  forms:  the 
continuous  notion,  and  the  retributive  notion.  In  ac- 
cordance with  the  former  it  is  believed  that  the  soul  of 
the  human  being  continues  after  death  the  activities 
which  it  was  accustomed  to  during  its  existence  in  the 
body.  Hence  there  are  buried  with  the  dead  warrior,  his 
spears,  arms,  utensils,  and  personal  belongings,  and  in 
some  cases  his  favorite  wife  and  his  slaves  are  sacrificed 
on  the  funeral  pile.  The  retributive  notion  is  less  wide- 
spread and  of  a  later  origin.  According  to  this  it  is  be- 
lieved that  the  condition  of  the  after  life  depends  upon 
conduct  and  action  during  the  worldly  existence  in  the 
flesh.  In  addition  to  these  beliefs  we  find  among  primi- 
tive peoples  the  system  of  worshiping  ancestors.  The 
spirits  of  the  recent  dead  are  believed  to  take  particular 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  living.  Ancestor-worship 
involves  the  question  of  the  benevolent  or  malevolent  in- 
fluence of  these  spirits.  Hence  there  have  arisen  elab- 


270  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

orate  rites  and  ceremonies  connected  with  this  system 
which  aim  at  propitiating-  the  souls  of  powerful  ancestors 
in  order  that  these  spirits  may  be  favorably  inclined  and 
advance  the  material  prosperity  of  the  living.58 

The  economic  life  of  primitive  peoples  presents  many 
striking  contrasts  to  the  systematized  economic  activities 
of  civilized  men.  Savages  live  from  day  to  day,  from 
hand  to  mouth,  satisfying  their  immediate  pleasures  and 
making  little  provision  for  future  needs.  Compared 
with  the  careful  methods  of  the  modern  business  man  we 
would  say  that  the  untrained  native  lacked  foresight. 
The  savage  does  not  seem  able  to  sustain  protracted 
labor.  He  does  not  appear  to  possess  the  power  of  con- 
tinuous application  which  has  made  the  prosperity  of 
modern  peoples.  The  routine  and  drudgery  of  agricul- 
ture is  too  great  a  burden  for  the  Indian.  Under  it  he 
often  sickens  and  dies.  The  Indian  is  nervously  more 
unstable  than  the  average  civilized  man.  He  is  more 
frequently  subject  to  hysteria  and  becomes  easily  intoxi- 
cated. As  the  activities  of  primitive  peoples  are  largely 
those  of  war,  hunting,  magical  and  religious  ceremonies, 
there  is  little  control  of  conduct  by  economic  motives. 

The  scale  of  values  of  modern  men  are  foreign  to 
the  savage.  His  sense  of  values  is  undeveloped  by  com- 
parison with  the  finely  sensitized  value  concept  which  we 
are  accustomed  to  recognize.  This  difference  is  not  pri- 
marily due  to  any  mental  defect  inherent  in  the  savage, 
but  is  almost  entirely  due  to  different  traditional  associ- 
ations. Because  we  are  familiar  with  a  highly  developed 
system  under  which  we  can  procure  what  we  want  at 
store  or  market  in  exchange  for  money,  we  think  that 

ss  Giddings,  Descriptive  and  Hist.  Soc.,  pp.  464-465;  and  Hozumi,  Ances- 
tor-Worship and  Japanese  Law,  pp.  9-11,  12-14. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  271 

primitive  men  must  have  similar  usages.  But  the  first 
discoverers  of  the  Australian  natives  found  that  they 
had  no  conception  of  exchange.  Ornaments  offered  them 
had  no  power  whatever  to  arouse  their  interest;  gifts 
pressed  upon  them  were  found  later  strewn  about  in  the 
woods  where  they  had  been  cast  in  neglect.  The  same 
experiences  were  had  with  the  Indian  tribes  of  Brazil. 
Yet  there  was  from  tribe  to  tribe  a  brisk  trade  in  pots, 
stone  hatchets,  hammocks,  cotton  threads,  necklaces  of 
mussel-shells,  and  many  other  products.  Direct  obser- 
vation showed  that  the  explanation  of  this  riddle  was  in 
fact  simple  enough, — the  transfer  insues  by  way  of  pres- 
ents, and  also,  according  to  circumstances,  by  way  of 
robbery,  spoils  of  war,  tribute,  fine,  compensation,  and 
winnings  in  gaming.  As  to  sustenance,  almost  a  com- 
munity of  goods  prevails  among  members  of  the  same 
tribes.  It  is  looked  upon  as  a  theft  if  a  herd  of  cattle 
is  slaughtered  and  not  shared  with  one's  neighbor,  or 
if  one  is  eating  and  neglects  to  invite  a  passer-by.  Any 
one  can  enter  a  hut  at  will  and  demand  food,  and  he  is 
never  refused.  If  there  is  a  poor  harvest,  whole  com- 
munities visit  their  neighbors  and  look  to  them  for  sup- 
port. There  exists  a  universal  custom  of  loaning  articles 
of  use  and  implements.  There  is  no  private  property  in 
land.  Consequently  within  the  tribe  where  all  house- 
holds produce  similar  commodities  and,  in  case  of  need, 
assist  each  other,  and  where  the  surplus  stores  can  only 
be  utilized  for  consumption,  there  is  no  occasion  for  di- 
rect barter  from  family  to  family.59 

From  tribe  to  tribe  there  prevail  rules  of  hospitality 
which  require  that  the  stranger  on  arriving  receive  a 
present.  After  a  certain  interval  he  reciprocates  and  at 

59BUcher,  Carl — Industrial  Evolution,  1901,  pp.  59-82, 


272  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

his  departure  still  another  present  is  handed  to  him. 
This  custom  of  reciprocal  gifts  of  hospitality  permits 
rare  products  of  a  land  or  artistic  creations  of  a  tribe 
to  circulate  from  people  to  people,  and  to  cover  great 
distances.  Thus  the  early  transfer  of  goods  was  through 
gift-making  to  strangers  and  others.  But  even  before 
this  there  was  the  giving  of  presents  with  a  view  to  pro- 
pitiate. Evil  spirits,  powerful  chiefs,  and  objects  of 
reverence,  might  be  appeased  by  gifts  of  useful  articles. 
Hence  the  giving  of  presents  was  not  in  response  to 
altruistic  or  unselfish  motives  but  purely  with  a  view  to 
diverting  or  directing  away  from  self  some  impending 
danger.  The  transition  from  this  form  of  propitiation 
to  exchange  for  its  own  sake  is  easy,  but  the  fiction  of 
present-giving  is  long  retained.60 

In  the  course  of  time,  production  of  articles  of  food 
and  wear  is  no  longer  followed  directly  by  consumption, 
but  there  is  interposed  the  process  of  exchange  for  the 
sake  of  exchanging  what  is  not  wanted  for  what  is  de- 
sired. This  exchange  creates  from  tribe  to  tribe  its  own 
contrivances  for  facilitating  matters.  The  most  impor- 
tant of  these  are  markets  and  money.61  Markets  are 
held  among  Negroes,  East  Indians,  and  Polynesians  in 
open  places,  often  in  the  midst  of  the  primeval  forests, 
on  the  tribal  borders.  The  market  is  a  neutral  district 
between  the  bordering  territories  of  the  two  tribes.  It 
is  a  sacred  place  within  which  all  hostilities  must  cease. 
Presents  were  first  exchanged  here,  perhaps  to  keep  up 
friendly  relations;  in  time  there  was  a  growth  of  senti- 
ment that  members  of  tribes  should  be  unmolested  while 

so  Giddings,  Principles,  p.  280. 

61  Biicher,  op.  tit.;  and  Seligman,  E.  R.  A, — Principles  of  Economics, 
1908,  pp.  67-80. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  273 

making  exchanges  in  this  district.  Of  course  the  object 
of  this  exchange  is  to  procure  articles  which  cannot  be 
produced  in  one's  own  tribe  at  all,  or  at  least  in  as  large 
quantities.  This  leads  each  tribe  to  produce  more  than 
it  requires  of  those  products  which  are  desired  by  other 
tribes,  because  in  exchange  for  these  it  is  easiest  to  obtain 
that  which  one  does  not  possess  one's  self,  but  which 
others  manufacture  in  surplus  quantities.  In  this  way 
the  idea  of  value  originated  and  developed  in  complexity 
until  among  modern  nations  we  have  many  grades  in  our 
scale  of  values.  In  the  course  of  time  it  always  happens 
that  some  one  commodity  has  been  exchanged  so  much 
more  frequently  than  any  other  that  men  can  always  be 
sure  that  with  it  they  can  purchase  any  other  commodity 
they  desire.  Whatever  this  specially  well-known  and 
highly-valued  commodity  may  be — whether  oxen  or  grain, 
beads  or  shells — it  is  a  true  medium  of  exchange,  it  is  a 
true  money.62  But  it  is  seldom  that  true  money  is  found 
in  primitive  society ;  exchange  is  usually  mere  barter,  the 
transfer  of  goods  in  kind.  It  has  taken  many  centuries 
of  constant  transfer  and  exchange  of  goods  before  one 
particular  commodity  was  recognized  as  a  universal  me- 
dium of  exchange, — money. 

Because  the  system  of  exchange  and  trade  is  in  such 
a  rudimentary  stage  of  development  among  primitive 
peoples,  modern  concepts  of  price  and  competition  are  un- 
known. There  is  no  competition  in  the  economic  sense, 
for  that  implies  price  and  differing  quality  in  goods. 
Price  is  a  concept  which  is  dependent  upon  a  money  econ- 
omy, for  price  is  the  amount  of  money  a  given  quantity  of 
goods  will  exchange  for.  Without  money  there  could 
obviously  be  no  concept  of  price;  and  as  we  have  seen, 

«2  Giddings,  op.  cit.,  p.  316. 


274  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

money  was  unknown  because  primitive  exchange  is  mere 
barter,  the  giving  of  goods  for  goods.  There  was  no 
such  system  as  hiring  help  for  work  because  each  com- 
munity was  self-supporting;  consequently  there  could 
be  no  competition  between  wage  earners  producing  a  rate 
of  wages.  The  industry  which  was  carried  on,  fell  to  the 
lot  of  the  women  of  the  community,  or  to  slaves,  and  no 
form  of  remuneration  was  paid  for  this  work  as  such. 
Competition  between  different  forms  of  capital  reflected 
in  the  rate  of  interest  could  not  exist,  because  the  con- 
cept of  capital  was  absent,  there  being  little  or  no 
private  property.  The  idea  of  property  in  land  was 
but  slightly  developed  since  the  land  was  held  in  com- 
mon by  the  clan.  Private  property  in  objects  was  un- 
important because  of  customs  of  lending,  sharing,  and 
giving  presents.  The  growth  of  property  by  inheritance 
was  checked  by  the  custom  of  burying  the  treasures  of  the 
dead  with  them.  The  Indian's  concept  of  property  there- 
fore differs  radically  from  our  concept  of  property.  The 
Indian  regards  his  name  as  his  personal  property  just 
as  much  as  we  regard  our  house  or  our  clothes  as  our 
private  property.  He  can  pawn  his  name  if  in  debt,  or 
loan  it  to  a  friend. 

Perhaps  one  reason  for  the  slow  growth  of  economic 
concepts  among  primitive  peoples  was  the  existence  of 
certain  traditions  which  hampered  the  development  of 
means  of  producing  goods.  New  methods  of  production 
were  less  easily  justified  than  in  modern  society.  An 
improved  method  of  producing  an  article  encountered 
as  obstacles  to  its  general  introduction  many  senseless 
superstitions  and  conservative  prejudices.  On  the 
Nicobar  Islands  the  art  of  pottery  was  given  up  because 
some  of  the  natives  who  had  just  begun  to  make  pottery. 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  275 

died.63  We  must  remember  that,  "In  barbarian  and 
savage  communities  the  collective  regulation  of  life  is 
not  less  but  greater  than  it  is  in  the  civilized  state.  The 
bounds  that  may  be  overstepped  are  narrow  and  dread. 
Immemorial  custom  is  inflexible,  and  half  of  all  the  pos- 
sible joys  of  existence  are  forbidden  and  taboo.  .  .  . 
By  the  conscious  cooperation  of  elders  in  directing  the 
rearing  of  children  by  young  parents,  by  organized  ini- 
tiation ceremonies,  by  clan  and  tribal  councils,  each  new 
generation  is  remorselessly  trained  in  those  beliefs,  habits 
and  loyalties  which  the  group  regards  as  vital  to  its  ex- 
istence." G4  Thus  beneficial  innovation  in  means  of  pro- 
duction is  as  likely  as  not  to  go  contrary  to  some  tribal 
usage,  and  hence  be  repressed  because,  being  new  and 
better,  it  might  offend  the  spirit  associated  with  the  cus- 
tomary way. 

Another  hindrance  to  the  development  of  production 
must  be  mentioned.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
among  primitive  people  agricultural  and  industrial  ac- 
tivities are  usually  carried  on  by  the  women  of  the  com- 
munity.65 The  woman  of  the  family  was  the  food 
bringer,  the  weaver,  the  skin  dresser,  the  potter,  the 
beast  of  burden,  and  the  "  Jack-at-all-trades. "  The  able- 
bodied  men  went  on  the  chase,  or  went  to  war.  Only 
the  old  and  decrepit,  the  weaklings  and  the  sickly  men 
were  left  at  home  to  stay  with  the  women.  These  de- 
spised individuals  fell  into  the  productive  activities  of 
the  women,  weaving,  dressing  skins,  pottery  and  other 
occupations  requiring  a  sedentary  mode  of  life.  These 
occupations  therefore,  became  associated  with  the  weaker 

63  Ratzel,  AnthropogeograpJiy,  vol.  ii,  p.  699. 

<"tGiddings,  "Social  Self-Control,"  Pol.  Sci.  Quart.,  vol.  xxiv.  no.  4,  1909. 

«5  Mason,  O.  T. — Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Culture,  1894. 


276  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

and  despised  members  of  society.  It  was  only  another 
step  to  regard  as  contemptible  all  productive  occupations 
because  only  weaklings  and  women  followed  them.  Con- 
sequently the  proper  thing  for  the  strong  adult  man  was 
the  life  of  battle  and  hunting ;  routine  and  drudgery  were 
to  be  left  to  all  who  had  not  sufficient  strength  to  follow 
the  more  noble  callings. 

In  the  presence  of  these  hindrances  to  improvements 
in  the  means  of  production,  the  development  of  an  in- 
dustrial society  was  of  necessity  slow  and  arduous.  With 
taboos  upon  the  doing  of  certain  acts,  with  popular  pre- 
judice against  industrial  and  agricultural  occupations, 
the  time  when  the  community  could  habitually  produce 
a  surplus  of  goods  over  and  above  the  actual  needs  of  its 
members  was  necessarily  far  distant.  The  creation  of 
more  commodities  than  could  be  directly  consumed  was 
naturally  dependent  upon  the  existence  of  a  fertile  soil 
and  a  good  water  supply,  but  aside  from  this  there  must 
be  a  class  in  the  community  who  labored  constantly  and 
persistently  at  the  despised  productive  occupations.  By 
the  introduction  of  slavery  on  a  somewhat  large  and 
systematic  scale,  this  requisite  was  satisfied.  Since  war- 
riors and  hunters  scorned  industrial  labor,  slaves  were 
forced  to  work  in  the  fields  and  houses.  The  institution 
of  slavery  taught  mankind  the  habit  of  steady  labor  and 
proved  a  good  school-master  for  men  who  had  avoided 
hard  persistent  work.  The  defeated  were  forced  into 
it  and  learned  to  submit  to  it.  Thus  slavery  was  one 
part  of  the  discipline  by  which  the  human  race  has  learned 
to  carry  on  industrial  organization.66 

66  Seligman,  op.  cit.,  p.  156, 


TRIBAL  SOCIETY  277 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READINGS. 

BOAS,  F. — The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man. 

BOAS,  F. — The  Social  Organization  and  Secret  Societies  of  the 
Kwakiutl  Indians. 

BUCHER,  Carl. — Industrial  Evolution. 

REPORTS, — Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 

FRAZER,  J.  G. — The  Golden  Bough. 

FRAZER,  J.  G. — Totemism. 

GIDDINGS,  F.  H. — The  Principles  of  Sociology. 

GIDDINGS,  F.  H. — Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology. 

GOLDENWEISER,  A.  A. — "Totemism,"  Jour.  Amer.  Folk-Lore, 
vol.  xxiii. 

HOWITT,  A.  "W. — The  Native  Tribes  of  Southeast  Australia. 

JONES,  W. — ' '  The  Algonkin  Manitou, ' '  Jour.  Amer.  Folk-Lore, 
vol.  xviii. 

MCLENNAN,  J.  F. — Studies  in  Ancient  History. 

MCLENNAN,  J.  F. — The  Patriarchal  Theory. 

MASON,  0.  T. — Woman's  Share  in  Primitive  Culture. 

MORGAN,  L.  H. — Ancient  Society. 

SPENCER,  B.,  and  GILLEN,  F.  J., — The  Native  Tribes  of  Central 
Australia. 

SPENCER,  B.,  and  GILLEN,  F.  J., — The  Northern  Tribes  of  Cen- 
tral Australia. 

THOMAS,  "W.  I. — Source  Book  for  Social  Origins. 

TYLOR,  E.  B. — Anthropology. 

TYLOR,  E.  B. — Primitive  Culture,  2  vols. 


IX 

THE  TRANSITION  FROM  TRIBAL  SOCIETY 
TO  CIVIL  SOCIETY 

MANKIND  did  not  make  the  change  from  primitive  so- 
ciety, organized  on  the  basis  of  blood  relationship,  to 
civil  society  where  the  bond  of  union  is  mutual  toleration 
and  cooperative  interest,  in  any  sudden  and  complete 
manner.  The  transition  period  was  a  long  and  an  im- 
portant one.  Many  factors  and  numerous  influences 
were  at  work  undermining  and  breaking  down  the  old 
structure  of  society.  Although  the  beginnings  of  this 
change  belong  to  a  more  or  less  remote  prehistoric  period, 
the  later  stages  of  the  transition  have  been  recorded  in 
a  most  interesting  manner  in  the  early  literature  and  laws 
of  historic  peoples.  Ancient  Greek  literature,  early 
Irish,  Welsh,  and  Saxon  laws,  contain  numerous  refer- 
ences to  a  structure  of  society  which  was  neither  tribal 
nor  yet  properly  civil,  but  presented  rather  the  charac- 
teristics of  a  transition  form.  We  must  not  consider 
that  this  change  took  place  at  the  same  time  all  over  the 
world  among  those  peoples  which  are  now  civilized,  for 
there  is  indication  that  different  races  attained  civiliza- 
tion at  different  periods.  Nor  must  we  expect  to  find 
that  the  transition  was  always  made  in  accordance  with 
the  same  process  of  change.  Sometimes  one  factor  was 
most  important,  at  other  times  or  among  differently 
situated  peoples  some  previously  neglected  influence  be- 
came a  dominant  force.  Thus  the  problem  is  one  of  ex- 
ceeding complexity  and  all  we  can  hope  to  do  is  to  study 

278 


TRANSITION  FROM  TRIBAL  SOCIETY     279 

a  few  of  the  most  important  influences  which  have  been  at 
work  in  combining  to  produce  civilization. 

The  germ  of  a  civil  state  appears  when  several  tribes 
unite  and  form  a  confederation  for  purposes  of  mutual 
protection.  We  saw  that  the  Iroquois  confederacy  was, 
in  many  respects,  like  a  true  civil  state.  Yet  this  re- 
markable organization  was  really  not  advanced  beyond 
the  stage  of  ethnic  society  because  it  was  composed  of 
tribes  of  Indians  who  traced  descent  through  the  mother 
line.  The  change  from  metronymic  to  patronymic  or- 
ganization seems  to  have  been  essential  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  many  peoples  for  the  final  great  transition  to  civil 
society.  This  change  appears  to  have  occurred  at  any 
stage  in  social  evolution.  A  patriarchal  organization 
had  been  already  attained  by  most  historic  peoples  when 
their  earliest  known  literature  was  written;  in  conse- 
quence, even  down  to  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, traditions  of  earlier  metronymic  organization  had 
passed  from  men's  minds.1  In  passing  from  metro- 
nymic to  patronymic  organization,  society  was  deeply  in- 
fluenced by  the  economic  struggle  for  foods.  In  this 
period  human  savagery  had  full  expression.  There  were 
ruthless  wars  of  extermination  and  surplus  population 
within  the  group  was  put  to  death.  Social  regulations 
placed  a  ban  upon  the  marriage  of  young  men,  resulting 
in  polyandry  2  and  in  polygamy 3  among  the  older  and 
powerful  chiefs.4 

i  Dealey,  J.  Q. — The  Family  in  its  Rociolonirnl  Aspects,  1012,  p.  27,  see 
also  Howard's  Matrimonial  Institutions,  Morgan's  Ancient  Society,  Fustel 
de  Coulanges'  Ancient  City,  Robertson  Smith's  Kinship  and  Marriage  of 
Early  Arabia,  Louis  Wallis'  Sociological  Rtudy  of  the  Bible,  Keller's 
Homeric  Society,  Gummere's  Germanic  Origins,  and  ITearn's  Aryan  House- 
hold. 2  A  marriage  system  in  which  a  woman  has  several  husbands. 

3  A  marriage  system  in  which  a  man  has  several  wives. 

*  Dealey,  op.  cit.,  p.  23. 


280  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

One  of  the  important  factors  in  the  change  seems  to 
have  been  the  practice  of  obtaining  wives  by  capture. 
Under  the  system  of  mother  descent  the  husband  came  to 
live  with  his  wife 's  kindred  and  the  children  were  claimed 
by  the  mother  clan  and  took  its  name.  In  the  new  re- 
lations which  grew  out  of  the  system  of  wife  capture, 
the  children  of  the  captured  wife  quite  naturally  belonged 
to  the  kin  of  the  father  as  long  as  he  chose  to  keep  them 
and  their  mother,  and  if  he  cared  enough  for  them  to 
hold  them  as  his  property  until  their  maturity,  they  took 
his  name.  This  transition  is  described  by  Tylor  as  tak- 
ing place  under  his  observation  among  the  Malayan  tribes 
of  the  Baber  Archipelago.5  Powell  has  described  how 
force  of  circumstances  consequent  upon  the  conditions 
of  life  in  the  desert  region  has  caused  the  Pueblo  In- 
dians, a  matriarchal  people  with  female  descent,  to  place 
the  control  of  family  affairs  temporarily  in  the  hands 
of  the  husbands  and  fathers.  As  water  is  scarce  for  ir- 
rigation in.  their  desert  region,  these  Indians  are  obliged 
to  separate  widely  for  the  cultivation  of  lands  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  central  pueblo.  The  consequence  is  that 
the  control  of  the  families  and  the  training  of  children 
are  temporarily  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  mother  Ts 
kin.6 

Economic  changes  of  vast  importance  occurred  at  about 
the  time  this  system  of  wife  capture  was  originating. 
These  changes  operated  to  strengthen  the  motive  to  ob- 
tain possession  of  offspring.7  In  early  stages  men  ob- 
tained their  food  by  hunting  wild  animals.  Under  cer- 

5  Tylor,  E.  B. — Jour,  of  the  Anthropological  Institute,  vol.  xviii,  p.  261. 

6  Powell,  J.  W. — Letter  quoted  by  Tylor,  ibid.,  p.  258. 

7  Giddings,    Descrip.    and   Hist.    Sociology,    p.    464,    Principles,    p.    288 ; 
Dealey,  op.  cit.,  p.  24. 


TRANSITION  FROM  TRIBAL  SOCIETY     281 

tain  circumstances  where  game  had  become  scarce,  it  was 
discovered,  at  first  by  mere  accident,  that  a  less  precari- 
ous food  supply  could  be  secured  by  preserving  various 
animals  and  caring  for  their  increase,  rather  than  by  de- 
vouring at  once  the  entire  produce  of  the  chase.  "Do- 
mestication of  animals  was  a  discovery  of  momentous 
import,  and  with  their  multiplication  first  for  food,  then 
for  transport,  and  finally  for  clothing,  protection  and 
pleasure,  we  have  the  conditions  for  the  transition  to  the 
pastoral  stage. ' ' 8  The  chief  result  of  the  domestication 
of  animals  was  assurance  of  a  permanent  food  supply, 
and  henceforth  man,  in  place  of  relying  on  natural  pro- 
duction, gorging  himself  in  one  season,  starving  in 
another,  was  able  to  store  his  food  supply  into  flocks  and 
herds,  thereby  securing  a  constant  and  abundant  source 
of  flesh  and  milk.9  Thus  there  was  afforded  an  oppor- 
tunity to  accumulate  wealth  which  stimulated  the  ambi- 
tion of  man  to  devote  himself  to  activities  other  than 
those  of  war  and  the  chase.  "In  the  pastoral  life  was 
born  the  desire  to  multiply  herds  and  herdsmen,  and  to 
transmit  property  to  sons."  10  Male  children  of  the  wife 
by  capture,  proved  an  asset  of  considerable  importance 
to  the  strong  man  who  had  plundered  his  foe's  herds. 
Consequently  there  was  an  economic  motive  to  reinforce 
the  social  usage  of  wife  capture  and  retain  possession  of 
children. 

"Under  these  new  conditions  courage  and  vigor  were 
in  demand,  since  the  race  had  of  necessity  to  be  brave 
in  the  defense  of  its  wealth  and  aggressive  against  rob- 
ber bands  and  carnivorous  beasts.  The  inert  and  the 
cowardly  were  killed,  or  as  slaves  received  life  in  return 
for  labor.  In  this  way  developed  a  breed  of  masterly 

s  Seligman,  op.  cit.,  p.  71.  »  Dealey,  op.  cit.  10  Giddings,  op.  cit. 


282  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

men  who  loved  war  with  its  turmoil  and  bloodshed  and 
who  ruled  with  an  iron  hand  over  slave  and  family  alike. 
These  dominating  males,  as  warriors,  priests,  and 
judges,  were  the  heads  of  powerful  families  and  groups, 
owning  slaves,  flocks  and  herds,  and  wide  areas  of  graz- 
ing-lands."  n  The  industry  developed  under  these  new 
conditions,  diverted  attention  from  war,  and  marriage 
by  purchase  gradually  succeeded  marriage  by  capture. 
This  new  form  of  marriage  gave  the  husband  even  greater 
authority  over  the  wife  than  he  secured  by  capture,  since 
his  right  to  the  purchased  wife  cannot  be  denied  by  her 
kinsmen.  She  was  wholly  surrendered  by  her  kinsmen 
and  could  cherish  no  hope  of  restoration  to  them.12  The 
husband's  authority  was  further  increased  by  religion. 
Ordinarily  the  children  would  follow  the  totem  of  the 
mother,  but  if  the  totems  of  the  two  parents  were  hostile, 
confusion  resulted.  Hence  there  developed  the  system 
of  adopting  the  captured  or  purchased  wife  into  the  clan 
and  totem  of  the  husband.  In  this  way  the  children  be- 
came in  every  sense  the  kindred  of  the  father.  McLen- 
nan has  described  a  transition  of  this  sort  among  the 
Guinea  negroes.  The  chief's  principal  wife  and  her  chil- 
dren must  be  of  the  clan  and  totem  of  her  kinsmen  by 
blood,  but  the  husband  often  purchases  a  slave  or  a 
friendless  girl  and  by  consecrating  her  to  his  bossum,  or 
god,  he  makes  her  of  his  kin  and  faith.  The  bossum  wife 
and  her  children  are  under  the  husband's  control,  and  it 
is  the  bossum  wife  who  is  sacrificed  at  the  chief's  death, 
that  her  spirit  may  follow  his.13  By  means  of  these  dif- 
ferent usages  the  father's  power  was  finally  established 
over  his  small  community. 

11  Dealey,  op.  cit.,  pp.  24-25. 

12  Giddings,  op.  cit. 

is  McLennan,  The  Patriarchal  Theory,  pp.  235-236. 


TRANSITION  FEOM  TRIBAL  SOCIETY     283 

Population  multiplied  rapidly  under  these  improved 
conditions,  and  the  food  supply  became  inadequate  in 
certain  densely  peopled  regions.  Presumably  by  acci- 
dent, it  was  found  that  the  seeds  would  multiply  them- 
selves, and  that  the  stick  was  more  effective  for  grubbing 
than  the  hand;  when  these  discoveries  were  made  we 
have  the  beginning  of  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  But 
we  must  not  think  of  this  agricultural  stage  of  food  get- 
ting as  always  following  upon  the  nomadic  or  pastoral 
stage,  because  the  resources  of  many  regions  will  never 
admit  of  agriculture  and  can  only  furnish  a  scant  subsist- 
ence for  an  occasional  wandering  herd.  Thus  the  transi- 
tion was  not  an  invariable  one  from  pastoral  to  agricul- 
tural, but  quite  as  likely  there  was  the  change  from 
hunting  to  agriculture,  since  we  often  find  among  primi- 
tive peoples  a  degree  of  agriculture  combined  with  the 
hunting  or  fishing  stage.  We  cannot  assert  the  exact 
chronological  sequence  of  these  stages  because  knowledge 
of  all  the  details  is  lacking.  Some  of  the  most  careful  in- 
vestigators now  believe  that  the  domestication  of  animals 
was  not  the  achievement  of  the  hunter  at  all,  but  of  the 
primitive  farmer,  and  that  the  pastoral  stage  was  an  out- 
growth of  early  agriculture.  At  any  rate,  it  is  reasonably 
sure  that  the  primitive  tilling  of  the  soil  was  carried  on  by 
the  hunters'  wives  and  daughters  as  a  subordinate  and 
auxiliary  means  of  support.  Only  at  a  much  later  period 
did  agriculture  acquire  more  importance.  Not  until  the 
game  supply  had  been  practically  exhausted  and  the  rov- 
ing life  of  the  hunter  made  impracticable  was  chief  re- 
liance put  upon  agriculture.14  If  the  food  supply  was 
bettered  by  the  system  of  raising  flocks  and  herds  it  was 
made  doubly  secure  by  crop  raising.  As  grain  and  wheat 

"  Seligman,  op    cit. 


284  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

could  be  stored  and  kept  for  long  periods  of  time  the  day 
of  famine  was  less  imminent  than  ever  before,  and 
men  could  dwell  in  a  security  seldom  previously  experi- 
enced. 

The  patriarchal  organization  of  society  was  influenced 
by  this  momentous  economic  change  and  now  the  religious 
prerogatives  of  the  family  group  took  on  added  sig- 
nificance. If  men  were  generous  to  their  household  gods 
in  gifts  and  sacrifices,  then  there  would  be  bountiful  har- 
vests for  man  and  beast.  Thus,  while  the  family  may  re- 
gard natural  objects  and  forces  as  animated  by  friendly 
or  evil  spirits  as  before,  they  entertained  for  the  soul  of 
the  departed  founder  of  the  house  the  stronger  feeling 
of  veneration.  They  thought  of  the  ancestral  spirit  as 
their  friend  and  protector.  To  the  ancestral  spirit, 
therefore,  they  paid  their  principal  devotions.  It  was 
believed  that  the  soul  had  need  of  a  dwelling-place  and 
of  food  and  drink,  for  the  soul  that  had  no  tomb,  wan- 
dered forever  as  a  homeless  spirit,  and  instead  of  being 
a  protecting  power,  it  usually  became  a  malevolent 
ghost.15  To  secure  the  repose  of  the  soul,  its  body  must 
be  reverently  buried  and  a  tomb  prepared  where  food 
could  be  left  and  libations  poured  in  accordance  with 
proper  ceremony.  Often  there  was  an  altar  within  the 
house  whereon  there  burned  a  sacred  fire,  extinguished 
only  after  the  entire  family  had  perished.16 

Ancestor-worship  reacted  upon  the  domestic  life  and 
marriage  was  arranged  with  reference  to  the  transmission 
of  property  and  of  priestly  office  to  sons,  and  to  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  integrity  and  continuity  of  the  family 
group.  As  none  but  a  son  could  properly  perform  the 
rites  of  the  ancestral  tomb,  the  patriarch  of  the  house 

is  Giddings,  Principles,  p.  291.  i«  Ibid. 


TRANSITION  FROM  TRIBAL  SOCIETY     285 

must  make  sure  of  legitimate  male  offspring.  The  conse- 
quence was  that  the  position  of  woman  was  regarded  as 
inferior.  In  place  of  a  personal  choice  in  marriage  she 
was  compelled  to  take  whatever  husband  chance  or  for- 
tune dictated.  Her  initiative  in  household  management 
became  compulsory  devotion  to  routine  within  a  somewhat 
narrow  sphere.  Marriage  depended  upon  the  whim  of 
her  husband,  so  that  she  had  no  longer  any  voice  in  its 
duration.  When  her  duties  were  regularly  so  exacting 
that  she  became  prematurely  old,  she  might  be  supplanted 
in  the  household  by  a  younger  wife  more  attractive  to  her 
husband.  In  this  way  the  natural  love  marriage  of 
earlier  civilization  yielded  to  one  of  sensuality  and  un- 
certainty. But  this  polygamous  marriage  system  ex- 
isted only  among  the  wealthy  and  powerful.  Among  the 
masses  of  men  monogamy  was  the  rule,  since  the  marri- 
age basis  had  become  largely  economic  and  the  main- 
tenance of  more  than  one  wife  became  too  expensive  for 
the  ordinary  man.17  Another  and  darker  aspect  of  the 
fierce  transition  from  metronymic  conditions  to  the  new 
organization,  was  the  enslaving  of  marriageable  women 
of  the  conquered  to  become  the  concubines  of  the  con- 
querors. 

With  the  establishment  of  male  descent  and  ancestor- 
worship,  clan  headships  and  tribal  chieftainships  tended 
to  become  hereditary  in  certain  families.  A  continuity 
of  tradition  and  custom  was  formed  which  bound  together 
in  a  compact  union  not  only  the  members  of  the  clan  and 
of  the  family,  but  also  the  living  with  the  dead.  Thus 
there  was  social  integration  and  the  structure  of  society 
became  more  coherent  and  substantial.  Yet  the  patro- 
nymic tribe  in  which  the  chieftainship  had  become  heredi- 

op.  cit.,  pp.  29-30. 


286  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

tary  soon  underwent  changes  of  organization.  These 
changes  consisted  in  the  gradual  and  almost  imperceptible 
weakening  of  the  bond  of  kinship  and  a  strengthening  of 
the  bond  of  personal  allegiance.  A  barbaric  feudalism 
slowly  developed,  and,  step  by  step,  this  new  system  of 
social  organization  was  substituted  for  the  old  system 
of  kin,  and  a  new  basis  for  the  social  structure  began  to 
gain  recognition.  The  powerful  and  wealthy  chief  ob- 
tained the  admiration  of  his  followers,  and  in  time  needed 
retainers  to  care  for  his  large  possessions.  But  so  long 
as  wealth  consisted  only  of  implements  and  weapons, 
game,  skins,  small  stores  of  grain,  baskets,  pottery,  and 
beads,  and  so  long  as  relationships  were  metronymic,  the 
chieftain's  wealth  could  never  be  large  enough  to  become 
a  source  of  formidable  power.  But  when  the  tribe  had 
become  rich  in  cattle  and  masculine  power  had  been 
firmly  established  through  patronymic  kinship  and  an- 
cestor-worship, then  conditions  were  different.  Among 
the  Kaffirs  of  South  Africa  this  barbaric  feudalism  has 
been  observed.  The  chief  and  his  family  are  regarded 
as  noble,  since  his  wealth  is  the  inherited  cattle  of  his 
father,  increased  by  other  cattle  obtained  from  numerous 
fines  and  confiscations  levied  upon  his  followers.18 
Among  the  privileges  he  obtains  from  his  followers  is 
the  right  to  pasture  his  increasing  herds  on  the  outlying 
border  of  the  tribal  domain.  To  the  simple  tribesman 
his  wealth  seems  stupendous.  By  dispensing  favors  and 
enriching  favorites  he  is  able  to  control  the  retinue,  or 
court  of  adventurous  men  who  come  to  him  from  all  parts 
of  the  tribe,  and  convert  them  into  formidable  bands  of 
retainers.19 

is  Maine,  H.  S. — Early  History  of  Institutions,  1888,  pp.  143-144. 
1»  Giddings,  op.  cit.,  p.  294. 


TRANSITION  FROM  TRIBAL  SOCIETY     287 

The  ancient  laws  of  the  Irish  show  us  the  successive 
steps  by  which  feudal  relations  were  created  in  patro- 
nymic tribal  society.  The  Brehon  laws  disclose  that  at  the 
earliest  period  the  chief  was  above  all  things  else,  a  man 
rich  in  cattle  and  sheep.  One  of  the  laws  prescribes  that 
the  head  of  a  tribe  besides  being  experienced,  noble,  and 
learned,  must  possess  wealth,  and  be  "the  most  powerful 
to  oppose,  the  most  steadfast  to  sue  for  profits  and  to  be 
sued  for  losses."  20  It  is  evident  from  these  laws  that  the 
way  to  chieftainship  was  always  open  through  the  ac- 
quisition of  wealth.  The  tribesman  who  had  grown  rich 
in  cattle  and  was  striving  to  become  a  chief,  was  called, 
a  "bo-aire,"  or  cow-nobleman. 

The  first  step  in  the  direction  of  securing  large  pos- 
sessions in  the  coveted  oxen,  was  to  serve  some  already 
established  chief.  The  young,  the  clever,  and  the  brave, 
who  came  to  do  court  service  to  this  well-known  leader, 
received  as  his  companions,  portions  of  his  stock  and 
shares  in  the  booty  of  marauding  expeditions.  The  chief 
also  extended  his  right  of  pasturage  in  the  outlying  waste 
to  his  retainers,  whose  own  herds  rapidly  increased  in 
numbers. 

In  this  struggle  for  wealth  there  were  some  unfortu- 
nate individuals  who  suffered  loss  and  ruin.  They  were 
present  in  the  broken  and  crushed  men  who  were  known 
in  every  Irish  tribe  as  ' '  f uidhuirs. ' '  At  first  this  class  of 
fuidhuirs  was  composed  of  outcasts  from  the  clans,  men 
who  had  disobeyed  the  clan  rules  and  violated  tribal  cus- 
tom. The  number  of  fuidhuirs  was  increased  by  inter-tri- 
bal wars,  in  which  tribes  are  broken  up  and  scattered. 
Such  ruined  and  outlawed  men  the  bo-aire  gathered  about 
him  on  the  tribal  waste  land  as  a  band  of  rough  adventur- 

20  Maine,  op.  cit.t  p.  134. 


288  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

ers,  ready  to  follow  him  at  any  moment  on  marauding  ex- 
peditions. In  course  of  time  these  lawless  bands  were 
used  by  the  bo-aire  in  committing  depredations  on  weaker 
tribes  and  in  stealing  their  cattle.  "Deprived  of  all 
possessions,  conquered  tribes  can  then  subsist  only  by 
borrowing  stock  back  from  the  arrogant  cow-noblemen, 
who  thus  become  receivers  of  regular  tributes  and 
rents."21 

Mr.  Mallock  calls  the  struggle  which  develops  under 
the  conditions  of  tribal  feudalism,  the  struggle  for  dom- 
ination to  distinguish  it  from  the  struggle  for  mere  ex- 
istence described  by  Darwin.  In  this  struggle,  wealth 
had  become  an  important  social  element  and  operated  to 
differentiate  the  tribal  population  into  classes.  Yet  the 
retainers  of  the  chieftains,  or  the  followers  of  these  re- 
tainers, might  themselves  be  men  of  any  tribe,  although 
society  continued  to  be  organized  on  the  gentile  princi- 
ple. This  is  clear  evidence  that  we  are  dealing  with  an 
intermediate  stage  which  was  neither  pure  tribal  organi- 
zation, nor  yet  true  civil  organization.  The  bond  of  union 
was  allegiance ;  no  question  of  relationship  was  asked ;  it 
was  only  necessary  that  they  should  be  loyal  adherents, 
faithful  to  their  chosen  leader  and  protector.  "Here  was 
a  first  step  in  that  momentous  change  which  was  finally 
to  break  down  tribal  organization  and  substitute  for  it 
the  civil  organization  of  society  on  the  basis  of  industrial 
and  political  association,  irrespective  of  the  limitations 
of  blood  relationship. ' ' 22 

Many  historical  peoples  have  passed  through  the  stage 
of  rude  feudalism  which  the  Brehon  laws  describe.23  We 

2iGiddings,  op.  tit.,  pp.  295-296. 

22  Giddings,  Descrip.  and  Hist.  Soc.,  pp.  472-473. 

23  Hopkins,   E.   W. — "The   Social   and   Military   Position   of   the   Ruling 
Caste  in  Ancient  India,"  Jour.  Amer.  Oriental  Society,  vol.  xiii,  1888. 


TRANSITION  FROM  TRIBAL  SOCIETY     289 

find  it  described  in  the  " Odyssey"  as  the  social  order  of 
the  Greeks  in  the  Homeric  period.  Tacitus  tells  of  the 
custom  of  giving  cattle  and  grain  to  tribal  chiefs  which 
existed  among  the  Germans  and  indicates  the  beginnings 
of  barbaric  feudalism  among  them.24  We  have  seen  how 
a  metronymic  people  like  the  Iroquois  Indians  had  com- 
bined their  tribes  into  a  confederation  which  remained 
a  source  of  power  and  dread  to  all  their  enemies  for  two 
hundred  years.25  But  patronymic  tribes  of  the  same 
racial  stock,  dwelling  within  a  territory  affording  natural 
geographical  unity  and  protection,  have  united  in  mili- 
tary confederations  that  are  more  formidable,  and  more 
stable  than  the  strongest  of  metronymic  confederations. 
"The  Egyptians,  the  Chaldeans,  the  Hebrews,  the 
Greeks,  the  Romans,  the  Saxons,  the  Franks,  the  Ger- 
mans, and  the  Slavs  were  originally  tribally  organized 
peoples  which,  by  growth  of  population,  confederation, 
and  consolidation,  developed  into  civil  states." 

"When  patronymic  tribes  confederate  and  form  the 
ethnic  nation,  the  agnatic  principle  and  ancestor-worship, 
combined  with  political  and  military  conditions,  confer 
great  authority  upon  the  chief  of  the  confederation.  He 
becomes  a  military  leader,  a  religious  leader  or  priest, 
and  a  supreme  judge,  all  in  one.  The  chief,  in  a  word, 
becomes  a  king."26 

This  patriarchal  organization  of  society  did  not  in- 
definitely remain  the  characteristic  mark  of  the  social 
structure,  for  changes  occurred  in  all  of  the  component 
family  groups  in  response  to  certain  new  conditions  which 
grew  out  of  these  relations  of  prosperity  and  unity.  The 
family  became  increasingly  definite,  the  clan  gave  place 

2*  Tacitus,  Oermania,  ch.  xv. 

25  Morgan,  op.  cit.,  pt.  ii,  ch.  v.  26  Giddings,  op.  cit.,  p.  473. 


290  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

to  new  'and  specialized  forms,  and  so  in  like  manner,  did 
the  tribe.  The  old  series  of  organizations  making  up  the 
ethnic  nation  were  supplanted  by  compact  kindreds,  ham- 
lets and  towns.  "This  patriarchal  kindred  wherever 
found,  as  among  the  Aryans  of  India,  the  Greeks,  the 
Slavs,  the  Celts,  and  the  Germans,  normally  consists  of 
five  generations  of  descendants  of  a  common  ancestor, 
dwelling  together  as  a  community,  sometimes  as  a  joint 
family,  and  owning  an  undivided  estate.  At  the  end  of 
the  fifth  generation  the  estate  is  divided,  and  each  of  the 
male  heirs  may  be  the  first  ancestor  of  a  new  kindred 
that  will  hold  together,  as  before,  for  five  generations."  27 
This  system  recommends  itself  to  our  common  sense  when 
we  consider  that  five  generations  is  all  that  the  average 
man  can  ever  know  of  his  kindred.  His  personal  ac- 
quaintance seldom  extends  beyond  his  grandfather,  and 
rarely  to  his  great-grandsons ;  thus  any  given  individual, 
his  father  and  grandfather,  his  son  and  grandsons,  may 
constitute  a  five  generation  group. 

The  patriarchal  kindred  occupied  a  definite  territory, 
but  on  their  possessions  were  often  found  dwellers  in 
some  sense  attached  to  the  kindred,  though  not  strictly 
members  of  it.  These  people  were  of  different  origins; 
sometimes  they  were  remnants  of  a  conquered  people, 
often  they  were  individuals  from  shattered  kindreds  else- 
where who,  by  some  service,  had  won  the  hospitality  or 
protection  of  the  proprietary  kindred.  By  adoption  they 
were  often  taken  into  participation  in  some  of  its  priv- 
ileges. Although  commonly  organized  in  partial  imita- 
tion of  the  patriarchal  kindred,  these  individuals  were 
always  on  a  basis  of  strict  equality  among  themselves. 
In  return  for  the  privileges  of  occupying  the  land,  they 

27  Ibid.,  p.  481. 


TRANSITION  FROM  TRIBAL  SOCIETY     291 

may  have  paid  rent  in  produce  or  rendered  the  proprie- 
tary group  various  services.  "In  this  differentiation  of 
the  population  occupying  land  held  by  a  proprietary  kin- 
dred we  probably  see  the  beginnings  of  that  sharper  di- 
vision which  at  a  later  time  is  presented  within  the  man- 
orial community.  The  groups  of  non-kindred,  inferiors, 
equal  among  themselves,  were  probably  the  beginnings  of 
the  class  afterward  known  as  villain  tenants.  And  that 
democratic  equality  which  many  students  of  economic 
history  a  generation  ago  attributed  to  the  'village  com- 
munity' probably  never  existed  except  within  these  or- 
ganizations of  non-kinsmen."28 

In  these  several  ways,  through  tribal  feudalism  in 
which  the  bond  of  allegiance  and  faithfulness  was  sub- 
stituted for  that  of  simple  blood  relation,  as  well  as 
through  the  custom  of  admitting  to  certain  privileges  of 
the  five  generation  kindred  a  group  of  dependents  who 
occupied  the  proprietary  domain,  the  old  structure  of 
ethnic  society  was  broken  down  and  a  new  basis  of  rela- 
tions was  appearing.  Now  the  supreme  power  which  is 
vested  in  the  patriarch  of  the  group,  faced  new  problems 
of  organization  forced  upon  it  by  the  contact  of  a  ruling 
and  a  subject  population.  The  old  usages  were  found  in- 
effectual in  dealing  with  the  complex  relations  which  had 
arisen.  Unattached  to  the  tribes  with  which  they  had 
cast  their  fortunes,  but  acquiring  wealth  and  power,  the 
miscellaneous  elements  living  on  the  tribal  domain  de- 
manded juristic  and  political  rights.29  Commercial 
rights  were  first  granted  with  but  little  hestitation.  But 

28/bft/.,  p.  482;  and  Seebohm,  F. — The  Tribal  System  in  Wales,  and  Tri- 
bal Custom  in  Anc/lo-Saxon  Law;  Seebohm,  II.  E. — The  Structure  of  Greek 
Tribal  Society;  and  The  Venedotian  Code,  Ancient  Laws  and  Institutes  of 
Wales. 

39  Giddings,  Principles,  pp.  314-331. 


292  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

to  permit  the  alien  to  marry  into  a  local  clan  was  to  ad- 
mit the  wife  to  the  worship  of  strange  gods,  and  was  ulti- 
mately to  intrust  to  strangers  the  solemn  sacrifices  to  the 
protecting  ancestral  spirits.  This  innovation  was  of  such 
a  serious  nature,  to  the  mind  of  primitive  man,  that  it 
was  deferred  until  the  pressure  forced  general  recogni- 
tion of  the  heterogeneous  population.  New  relations, 
however,  were  in  course  of  time  expressly  authorized  and 
sanctioned  ;  thus  the  customary  usages  of  the  people  were 
converted  into  positive  law.30 

"Each  nation  in  its  infancy  has  regarded  itself  as  a 
peculiar  people.  It  has  cherished  its  law  as  a  body  of 
unique  and  unequaled  wisdom.  When,  therefore,  after 
it  has  subjugated  alien  peoples  and  has  annexed  their 
lands,  and  has  discovered  that  their  systems  of  law  differ 
only  in  form  and  detail  from  its  own,  its  conception  of  the 
nature  of  law  necessarily  undergoes  a  profound  change. 
It  finds  itself  obliged  to  think  of  law  as  made  up  more  of 
general  than  of  peculiar  principles.  It  begins  to  think 
of  certain  principles  as  universally  true,  and  to  identify 
them  with  the  nature  of  society.  It  observes,  moreover, 
that  the  universal  rules  of  customary  law  are  independ- 
ent of  the  forms  of  government,  and  it  begins  to  regard 
them,  therefore,  as  of  superior  authority,  and  to  believe 
that  governments  should  themselves  be  governed  by  the 
universally  accepted  rules  of  right."31 

Back  of  these  changes  in  the  structure  of  society,  and 
at  the  basis  of  most  innovations  in  custom  and  usage, 
were  certain  wider  economic  conditions.  One  of  the  chief 
of  these  was  the  existence  of  natural  resources  in  soil 
and  surroundings  which  would  permit  of  a  somewhat  easy 


td.;  and  Tarde,  op.  cit.,  pp.  310-322. 
Giddings,  op.  cit.,  p.  329. 


TRANSITION  FROM  TRIBAL  SOCIETY     293 

accumulation  of  wealth.  As  long  as  men  lived  from  hand 
to  mouth  and  consumed  immediately  all  that  was  pro- 
duced, no  enduring  basis  for  formidable  power  existed. 
But  when  men  learned  to  store  their  food  supply  in  flocks 
and  herds  and  to  depend  upon  cultivated  plants  for  their 
subsistence,  it  was  possible  to  lay  aside  an  ever-increas- 
ing fund  of  supplies,  a  surplus  which  could  be  drawn  upon 
in  time  of  famine  or  other  need.  With  the  organization 
of  patriarchal  society,  property  became  an  established 
institution,  and  slavery  became  an  important  social  sys- 
tem. The  captive  of  war  was  employed  as  a  cowherd  or 
a  shepherd.  Since  large  flocks  can  be  attended  by  rela- 
tively few  herdsmen,  slavery  did  not  reach  its  most  ex- 
tensive form  of  development  until  opportunity  was  af- 
forded for  the  use  of  large  numbers.  The  pressure  of 
population  upon  the  food  supply  developed  a  system  of 
cultivating  the  soil  which,  though  arduous,  was  profitable, 
provided  a  good  supply  of  labor  could  be  had.  The  slave 
was  forced  into  agricultural  labor  and  cultivation  of  the 
soil  was  then  carried  on  upon  a  large  scale.  By  the  em- 
ployment of  gangs  of  slaves  it  was  possible  to  produce 
more  wealth  and  thus  increase  the  surplus.  But  if  there 
was  no  opportunity  to  exchange  the  surplus  products  of 
one  locality  for  desired  articles  from  other  regions,  there 
was  a  definite  limit  to  this  surplus-producing  cycle. 

It  was  only  with  the  growth  of  barter  and  the  increas- 
ing possibility  of  exchanging  surplus  products  that  it  be- 
came profitable  to  augment  both  one's  land  and  one's 
slaves.  A  market  for  agricultural  production  must  de- 
velop and  trade  routes  open  up  before  slavery  can  be 
highly  lucrative.32  But  in  addition  to  the  existence  of  a 
market,  one  other  condition  was  essential  to  the  spread  of 

32  Seligman,  op.  cit.,  pp.  154-162. 


294  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

slavery:  a  supply  of  free  land.  The  reason  for  this  is 
found  in  the  nature  of  slave  labor.  The  slave  was  usually 
unskilled  at  methods  of  cultivation,  since  as  a  warrior  be- 
fore his  capture  and  humiliation,  he  was  accustomed  to 
regard  manual  labor  as  degrading.  Moreover,  his  labor 
was  reluctant,  hence  he  was  not  interested  in  making  it 
efficient.  And  further  than  this,  the  slave  was  stupid  and 
ignorant  of  right  methods.  Because  of  these  traits  of  the 
slave,  his  work  was  wasteful  and  extravagant.  Conse- 
quently, the  only  way  to  get  increasing  returns  from  agri- 
cultural work  of  this  sort,  was  to  set  the  slave  at  a  new 
tract  of  virgin  soil  as  soon  as  he  had  used  up  the  vital 
qualities  and  destroyed  the  fertility  of  the  land  which  he 
had  been  cultivating.  It  paid  better  to  bring  fresh  land 
under  the  plow,  than  to  put  more  effort  into  old  land ;  it 
was  more  profitable  to  increase  acreage  than  to  redouble 
effort.  And  so,  as  long  as  there  was  a  boundless  expanse 
of  good  land  available,  slave  labor,  which  implied  super- 
ficial cultivation,  was  still  economical,  but  as  soon  as  the 
supply  of  land  decreased  through  occupation  or  exhaus- 
tion of  its  resources,  slavery  waned  in  importance.  Thus, 
although  slavery  was  an  institution  of  great  importance 
in  prehistoric  and  ancient  times,  with  the  virtual  exhaus- 
tion of  free  land,  slavery  in  modern  society  has  gone, 
never  to  return. 

One  consequence  of  this  creation  of  a  surplus,  whether 
by  slave  labor,  or  otherwise,  has  been  that  certain  classes 
in  the  community  have  not  found  it  necessary  to  devote 
their  entire  time  to  depressing  and  enervating  labor. 
Some  individuals  were  afforded  leisure  from  the  drudgery 
which  dulls  the  finer  sensibilities  and  reduces  bodily 
vitality.  With  the  attainment  of  leisure,  came  the  possi- 
bility of  an  increased  development  of  Art,  Literature, 


TRANSITION  FROM  TRIBAL  SOCIETY     295 

Science  and  Philosophy,  of  all  higher  arts  of  life  and 
refinements  of  living  which  have  enriched  primitive  cul- 
tures and  converted  them  into  civilizations. 

We  have  indicated  another  factor  as  bound  up  with  the 
creation  of  a  surplus.  This  was  the  establishment  of  a 
market  and  trade  routes.  Probably  no  other  single  force 
in  human  history  has  been  more  important  in  bringing 
about  the  complete  transition  from  tribal  to  civil  society 
than  the  growth  of  commerce.  If  there  was  opportunity 
for  commerce  the  creation  of  a  surplus  was  favored,  since 
the  trading  of  an  excess  in  the  home  produce  for  some 
new  want  stimulated  the  further  production  of  surplus 
to  more  fully  satisfy  that  want.  In  time,  new  industries 
originated,  and  these  in  turn,  were  worked  for  the  surplus 
product  which  could  be  exchanged  for  still  newer  wants. 
The  resulting  diversification  of  wants  was  educational 
for  the  people  and  tended  to  lay  the  basis  for  a  rich  and 
self-sustaining  economy  which  becomes  the  foundation 
of  a  great  civilization.  Corresponding  to  the  exchange 
in  wares  and  articles  of  commerce,  there  was  a  communi- 
cation of  new  ideas  and  transmission  of  intelligence  that 
could  not  fail  to  react  profoundly  upon  the  developing 
culture  of  the  people.  The  commercial  people  become 
tolerant  of  customs  other  than  their  own  and  learn  famil- 
iarity with  strange  and  remote  localities.  All  this  variety 
of  experience  broadens  their  point  of  view  and  gives  a 
ripeness  and  maturity  to  their  culture  which  no  other  in- 
fluence can  bring. 

Thus,  in  the  transition  from  tribal  to  civil  society  there 
occur  important  modifications  in  the  social  structure, 
making  it  more  elastic  and  broadening  its  scope  and 
power  of  adaptation.  Men  begin  to  recognize,  through 
force  of  adverse  or  favorable  circumstances,  that  the  local 


296  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

group  which  reared  and  nurtured  them  is  but  part  of  a 
wider  society.  A  wealth  of  race  experience  is  acquired 
along  with  an  increasingly  secure  economic  basis  for  both 
individual  and  social  life.  Production,  local  exchange  of 
wares,  and  extensive  commercial  relations  are  developed. 
Economic  and  industrial  activities  become  of  more  im- 
portance than  warfare,  and  continuous  prosperity  and 
freedom  from  dangerous  famines  is  the  lot  of  larger 
and  larger  numbers  of  mankind.  With  a  more  plastic 
and  flexible  structure  of  social  relations,  founded  upon 
a  substantial  and  extensive  economy,  the  plane  of  the 
struggle  for  existence  is,  for  most  of  mankind,  once  for 
all  raised  above  the  level  of  the  brute,  and  the  increasing 
dependence  placed  upon  the  intellectual  and  ethical  ele- 
ment assures  a  truer  realization  of  justice,  humanity 
and  happiness. 

SUPPLEMENTARY  READINGS. 

DEALEY,  J.  Q. — The  Family  in  Its  Sociological  Aspects. 

GIDDINGS,  F.  H. — Principles  of  Sociology. 

GIDDINGS,  F.  H. — Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology. 

GINNELL. — The  Brehon  Laws. 

MAINE,  H.  S. — The  Early  History  of  Institutions. 

MORGAN,  L.  H. — Ancient  Society. 

MYRES,  J.  L. — The  Dawn  of  History. 

SEEBOIIM,  F. — The  Tribal  System  in  Wales. 

SEEBOIIM,  F. — Tribal  Custom  in  Anglo-Saxon  Law. 

SEEBOIIM,  H.  E. — The  Structure  of  Greek  Tribal  Society. 

SELIGMAN,  E.  R.  A. — The  Principles  of  Economics. 

TACITUS. — Germania. 

THOMAS,  W.  I. — Source  Book  for  Social  Origins. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Acheulian  epoch,  76,  79. 
Acquired     characters,     the     inheri- 
tance of,  32-37. 

Adaptation,  29-30,  35-37,  105-107, 
146,  203. 

Age   of  human   remains,   50-57,   71. 

Agriculture,  91-94,  241,  283,  293- 
294. 

Alpine   race,   218-220,   223,  226. 

Ancestor-worship,  97,  195,  269,  284, 
285. 

Animism,  264. 

Anthropoidea,  40. 

Ape  family,  40. 

Arctic  environment,   133-137. 

Art,  of  cave  men,  83-84 ;  of  British 
Columbian  Indians,  252-254;  of 
Australian  natives,  256. 

Articulate  speech,   111-114. 

Asian-American  racial  group,  210, 
214. 

Association,  102-120,  203;  advan- 
tages of,  102-108;  and  domesti- 
cation of  animals,  106;  and  imi- 
tation, 107;  and  intelligence, 
107-108;  and  reproduction,  105- 
106;  and  survival,  106-107,  114- 
117;  and  variation,  106-107. 

Aurignacian  epoch,   82. 

Australian-African  racial  group, 
210,  214. 

Awe-inspiring  aspects  of  nature, 
157-166. 

Baby,  human  and  the  ape,  46. 
Bagehot,   W.,   cited,    115,    116,    117; 
quoted  114,  115,  118,  268. 


Baltic  race,  217,  223. 

Barbaric   feudalism,  286-289. 

Bastian,  A.,  cited,  116. 

Baxter,  J.  H.,  cited,  123. 

Bell,  A.  G.,  cited,  152. 

Bergson,  quoted,  5. 

Bible,  cited,  238;   quoted,  238. 

Birth-rate,   20-21. 

Black  race,  208,  209. 

Bo-aire,  287. 

Boas,  F.,  cited,  15,  17,  18,  123-125, 

129,  137,   146,   165,  180,  185,   196, 

227,      229-231,      233,      246-251; 

quoted,     17,    124,    130,    165,    180, 

196-197,  231. 

Bone  remains,  50-52,  58-68,  71-74. 
Bowditch,  H.  P.,  cited,  123. 
Brachycephalic  head  form,  204-205, 

211. 

Brehon  law,   287. 
Brinton,  D.  G.,  cited,  57,  220. 
British     Columbian     Indians,     246- 

254. 

Bronze  age,  101. 
Biicher,  C.,  cited,  271,  272. 
Buckle,  H.  T.,  cited,   134,   157,   159, 

160;  quoted,  134,  158,  165. 

Cave  dwellings,  71-74,  82-91. 

Cave  men,  82,  84-91,   111. 

Cave  art,  82-84. 

Caverns,  71-74,  82-91. 

Ceremony,   199,  250,  252,  257-258. 

Chamberlain    and    Salisbury,    cited, 

54.       . 
Chapin,  F.   S.,  cited,   116,  172,   183, 

185,  258. 


299 


SCO 


INDEX 


Cliellean  epoch,  76-79. 

Civilization,  118,  142,  143-144,  150, 
227-231,  278-296. 

Civil  society,  278-29G. 

Clan,  Australian,  254-255;  Greek, 
238;  Iroquois,  240,  241,  242-243; 
metronymic,  237-238 ;  patrony- 
mic, 237-238;  Roman,  238. 

Climate,  20,  84-88,  133-145;  and 
altitude,  139;  cycles,  140;  and 
depopulation,  140-141 ;  and  lati- 
tude, 133-134;  and  natural  selec- 
tion, 20,  88,  137,  146,  222-226; 
the  pulsations  of,  84,  141; 
weather,  144-145. 

Color  of  skin,  206,  208-209,  221- 
222. 

Commerce,  149-150,  160,  295. 

Communication,  111-114,  149-150, 
158-160,  185-186;  and  density  of 
population,  146,  186;  and  isola- 
tion, 152-166;  laws  of,  185-186. 

Competition,  economic,  273,  274. 

Congenital  variations,  6,  36-37. 

Consciousness  of  kind,  113. 

Continuity  of  germ  plasm,  4-5. 

Continuous  variation,  4-7. 

Cooley,  C.  H.,  cited,  113,  114,  122, 
173,  199;  quoted,  113,  114,  122- 
123,  173. 

Cooperation,   105,   107,   110,   111. 

Cooperative  group  life,  105-10(5, 
107. 

Corsica,  the  Island  of,  153. 

Crania,  58-68. 

Crowd,  the  psychology  of,  186-187. 

Culture,  87,  88,  121,  150,  151,  152- 
160,  160-165;  and  density  of 
population,  88,  151 ;  and  isola- 
tion, 88,  150-157,  158-160;  pre- 
historic, 68-101;  primitive,  68- 
101,  233-296. 

Cumberland  Gap,  149. 

Custom,  116,  137,  166,  171-202; 
formation  of,  178;  and  group  sur- 
vival, 116,  117-119 


Danubean  race,  220.  226. 

Darwin,  C.,  cited,  24,  30,  32,  39,  103, 

288. 
Davenport,  C.  B.,  cited,   15,   17,  26, 

152. 
Dealey,  J.  Q.,  cited,  279,  281,  285; 

quoted,  281-282. 
Death-rate,   21-24. 
DeFoe,  D.,  quoted,  188. 
Density  of  population,  88,  150-157; 

and     civilization,     150-157;     and 

culture,  88,  151. 
De  Quatrefages,  cited,  220. 
Descent,  29-30,  39-40,  46-49,  58-68 ; 

the   theory   of,   29-30,   39-40;    the 

theory  applied  to  human  species, 

39-40,    46-49,    58-68. 
DeVries,  H.,  cited,  9,  10,  11. 
Dexter,  E.  G.,  cited,  144. 
Differentiation,  110. 
Discontinuous   variation,  6,    10. 
Dolichocephalic  head  form,  204-205, 

215. 
Domestication   of   animals,   91,    106, 

281,  293. 
Dominant  Menclelian  characters,  12- 

15. 

Donovan,  quoted,  112. 
Druid's  altars,  97. 

Education,   185. 

Egypt,   83,    142,    150. 

Elephants,  reproduction   in,  21. 

Embryo,  human  compared  with 
lower  animals,  43-46. 

Endogamy,   247. 

Environment,  20,  32-37,  52-54,  84- 
88,  121-170;  as  an  influence  ac- 
celerating physical  growth,  123- 
133;  arctic,  134;  awe-inspiring 
aspects  of,  157-105;  climatic  in- 
fluences of,  20,  52-54,  84-88,  133- 
145;  and  the  origin  of  human 
qualities,  130-133;  and  isolation, 
152-166;  and  migration,  140-150; 
physical,  121;  and  religion.  169; 


INDEX 


301 


as  a  retarding  influence,  123;  and 
selection,  32-37,  133,  137,  146, 
165-166;  and  skin  color,  221;  so- 
cial, 172;  torrid,  133. 

Eoanthropus,  67-68. 

Eolithic  period,  75-91 ;  implements, 
75-91. 

Eoliths,   76. 

Eskimo,   137,   145,   146,  234. 

Eur-African  race,  217-218,  226. 

Eur-Asian   race,  217,  218-219. 

Exchange,  270-273,  293-295,  296. 

Exogamy,  243. 

Family,   the   ape,   40. 

Festivity  and  the  origin  of  articu- 
late speech,  111-112. 

Feudalism,  barbaric,  286-289. 

Fishes,  reproduction  in,  22. 

Five  generation  group  of  the  patri- 
archal kindred,  290-292. 

Flint   implements,    74-101. 

Fluctuating  variation,  3-8. 

Folkways,  defined,  177;  origin  of, 
174-177. 

Food,  and  civilization,  94,  134,  150; 
and  domestication  of  animals,  94, 
281,  293;  and  the  group  struggle 
for  existence,  94,  105,  279,  281, 
283,  293. 

Formalism,  199-200. 

Frazer,  J.  G.,  cited,  199,  246,  261- 
263;  quoted,  245. 

Galton,  F.,  cited,  5,  17,  115;  quoted, 

5,   11. 

Geologic  ages,  50-52,  68-72,  74-76. 
Gerard,  E.,  cited,  154. 
Gerland,  G.,  cited,  231. 
Germ  cell,  5,  16,  32-37. 
Germ   plasm,    theory   of    continuity 

of,  5,  16,  32-37. 
Germinal  variation,  6,  36-37. 
Giddings,  F.  H.,  cited,  57,  71,   102, 

104,  108,  110,  113,  188,  203,  208- 

210,  217-218,  222,  233,  238,  207, 


268,  270,  272,  273,  275,  280,  281, 

282,    284,    286;    quoted,    71,    108, 

109,   111,   112,  265-266,  275,  281, 

288,  289,  290-291,  292. 
Ginnell,   L.,   cited,  239. 
Glaciers     and     prehistoric     culture, 

74-87. 
Glacial    period,   52-57,    74-87,    142, 

226. 
Goldenweiser,  A.  A.,  cited,  245,  230, 

254,  257;  quoted,  253-254. 
Gould,  B.  A.,  cited,  123. 
Greek  clan,  238. 
Group  life,  102-120;  advantages  of, 

104-107;    and    custom,    114-118; 

and    natural    selection,     106-107, 

114-117. 
Gumplowicz,    L.,    cited,     118,     119, 

172;  quoted,  172,  173,  174. 


Habit,   116-118,   145,  166,  177-178. 

Haeckel,  cited,  67. 

Hair  form,   203-205,  209. 

Heidelberg  jaw,   65-67. 

Head  form,  129-130,  204-208,  219; 
brachycephalic,  204-205;  dolicho- 
cephalic, 204-205;  mesocephalic, 
208;  long  head,  204;  round  head, 
205. 

History  and  climate,  74-87,  121- 
122,  140-151;  the  organic  view  of, 
121-122. 

Heredity,  1-19,  122;  and  acquired 
characters,  32-37;  and  environ- 
ment, 122,  126;  laws  of,  4-18; 
Galton's  law  of  regression,  17; 
Mendelian,  11-15;  social,  171- 
202. 

HominidjE,  40,  113,  228. 

Hopkins,  E.  W.,  cited,  288. 

Homer,  cited,  238. 

Howitt,  A.  W.,  cited,  185,  254,  264. 

Hozumi,  cited,  270. 

Human  infant,  46. 

Human  nature,  104,  112-113. 


302 


INDEX 


Human  soul,  origin  of  idea  of,  265- 
267. 

Huntington,  E.,  cited,  139,  140,  142; 
quoted,  140-141,  143. 

Huxley,   cited,   58. 

Hybrid,  and  Mendelian  inheritance, 
11-15. 

Imitation,  107,  185-186,  187,  190- 
202;  contra,  192;  custom,  194; 
laws  of,  191-202;  direction  of, 
192;  force  of,  190-191;  mode, 
194;  refracted  by  its  media,  193- 
194;  spread  of,  191. 

Implements,  71-101;  Acheulian,  76- 
79;  Aurignacian,  82;  Chellean, 
76-79;  eolithic,  76;  Magdalenian, 
82;  Mousterian,  82;  neolithic, 
91-101;  paleolithic,  76-91;  pre- 
historic, 76-101;  Solutre"an,  82; 
Str6pyan,  76. 

Inbreeding  in  mice  to  show  Men- 
delian inheritance,  15. 

Indians,  of  British  Columbia,  246- 
254;  Iroquois,  239-244;  of  North 
America,  234,  239-254. 

Individual,  differences,  3-7;  and 
the  social  medium,  171-174;  and 
society,  115-118,  171-202. 

Inheritance,  1-19,  125-126,  129- 
130;  of  acquired  characters,  32- 
37;  De  Vries'  theory  of,  9-10; 
Galton's  theory  of,  17;  of  eye 
color  in  man,  15;  Mendelian  law 
of,  11-15;  Weismann's  theory  of, 
5,  16,  32-37. 

Instinct,  174-177. 

Integration  of  like  response,  110- 
111. 

Interstimulation  and  response,  110- 
111. 

Ireland,  A.,  cited,  134. 

Irish  law,  278,  287. 

Iron   age,    101. 

Isolation,  and  animal  life,  20-28; 
and  biological  traits,  20-28 ;  and 
culture,  88,  152-154;  and  prog- 


ress,   153-160,    165-166;    and   to- 
pography, 152. 

Java,  the  island  of,  61-65. 
Jones,  W.,  cited,  245. 
Justinian,   cited,  239. 

Kaffirs,   286. 

Keane,  A.  H.,  cited,  40,  57,  61,  72, 
75,  87,  97,  98,  227;  quoted,  227. 

Kitchen-middens,  71-72. 

Kropotkin,  P.,  cited,  103,  104; 
quoted,  103,  104. 

Kwakiutl  Indians,  246;  winter  cere- 
monial of,  252. 

Lamarck,  cited,  32. 

Language,    103,    111-114,   186. 

Law,  ancient  Irish,  Brehon,  278, 
287;  as  a  bond  of  union  in  early 
group  struggle,  116-117;  custom- 
ary, 292;  positive,  292. 

Like  response,  110. 

Lubbock,  J.,  cited,  101. 

Lull,  R.  S.,  cited,  54,  57,  62,  66,  67. 

Lucas,  F.  A.,  cited,  61. 

MacCurdy,  G.  G.,  cited,  79. 

McDougall,  W.,  cited,  178,  188,  189, 
190,  191,  192,  194,  197,  198; 
quoted,  188,  199-201. 

McLennan,  J.  F.,  cited,  282. 

Magdalenian  epoch,  82. 

Magic,  among  primitive  people, 
258-261;  imitative,  261;  mana, 
237;  sympathetic,  261. 

Maine,  H.  S.,  cited,  286;  quoted, 
287. 

Mallock,  W.  H.,  cited,  288. 

Man,  and  the  apes,  40;  Eoanthro- 
pus,  67-68;  extinct  forms  of,  58- 
68;  Heidelberg,  65-67;  and  nat- 
ural selection,  46-49,  87-91,  106- 
107,  114-117,  146;  Neanderthal, 
58,  82,  218,  222;  neolithic,  91- 
101;  origin  of,  39-40,  46-49} 


INDEX 


303 


paleolithic,  76-91  j  Pithecanthro- 
pus, 61-65;  prehistoric,  50-101, 
104,  233-234;  primitive,  50-101, 
146,  233-277;  of  the  stone  ages, 
71-101. 

Mana  magic,   237,   264. 

Manitou,  244-245. 

Markets,  272,  293-295. 

Marrett,  R.  R.,  cited,  74. 

Marriage,  by  capture,  199,  281,  282; 
monogamy,  285;  polyandry,  279; 
polygamy,  279,  285;  by  purchase, 
199,  282. 

Mason,  O.  T.,  cited,  275. 

Materialistic  interpretation  of  his- 
tory, 157. 

Matriarchal  organization  of  so- 
ciety, 279,  280. 

Medicine-man,  110,  263-264. 

Mediterranean  race,   217-218,   223. 

Mendel,  G.,  cited,  11. 

Mendelism,    11-15. 

Mendelian   inheritance,   11-15. 

Mesocephalic,  head  form,  208. 

Mesozoic  period,  52. 

Metcalf,  M.  M.,  cited,  3,  4,  6,  21, 
22,  34,  35,  36,  46. 

Metronymic  kin,  280. 

Mice,  Mendelian  inheritance  in 
waltzing  mice,  13-14. 

Migration,  140-142,  143,  146,  165- 
166,  227. 

Modification  of  structure  and  in- 
heritance, 32-37. 

Mohawk  valley,   149. 

Money,  and  exchange,  270,  273; 
origin  of,  273. 

Monogamy,  285. 

Montesquieu,  cited,  157. 

Morals,  defined,  118-119;  and  social 
relations,  118-119,  180-181. 

Mores,  defined,  183;  growth  of,  183, 
184. 

Morgan,  L.  H.,  cited,  239,  240,  244, 
289. 

Mousterian  epoch,  82. 


Music  and  the  origin  of  speech,  111- 

112. 

Mutation,  9-11. 
Mutual  aid,  a  factor  in  the  struggle 

for  existence,  102-104. 

Natural  selection,  and  animals,  20- 
28;  explained,  24-25;  and  group 
survival,  106-107,  114-117;  and 
man,  46-49,  87-91,  137,  146,  222- 
226;  summarized,  30-31. 

Nature,  general  aspects  of,  157-165; 
and  survival  of  the  fit,  21,  24. 

Naulette,  La,  jaw,  58. 

Neanderthal  man,  58,  82,  218; 
skull,  58. 

Neolithic,  culture,  91-101;  imple- 
ments, 91-101;  period,  91-101, 
203,  226;  remains,  91-101,  218. 

Nile  valley,  149-151. 

North  American  Indians,  234,  239- 
254. 

Olmstead,  A.  T.,  quoted,  150-151. 
Origin  of  species,  29-30,  46-49. 
Original   undifferentiated   race,   the, 
213,  214. 

Paleolithic,  culture,  76-91 ;  imple- 
ments, 76-91;  period,  76-91,  203; 
remains,  76-91,  218. 

Paleozoic  period,  52. 

Patriarchal  organization  of  society, 
284,  289. 

Patronymic  kin,  290-291. 

Pearson,  K.,  cited,  17,  125. 

Persecution  and  custom,  115,  116, 
117-118,  166,  179. 

Peschel,  O.,  cited,  169;  quoted,  169. 

Phratry,  defined,  243-244;  in  North 
America,  243-244. 

Pithecanthropus  Erectus,  61-65. 

Play,  festivity,  and  the  origin  of 
articulate  speech,  111-114. 

Pleistocene  period,  54. 

Polished  stone  age,  76,  87,  91-101. 


304 


INDEX 


Polyandry,  27!). 

Polygamy,  279. 

Polynesian-European  racial  group, 
210,  214. 

Powell,  J.  W.,  cited,  280. 

Population,  density  of,  and  culture, 
88,  151;  and  food,  94,  105,  134, 
150,  279-283,  293;  movement  of, 
140-142,  143,  140-149,  165,  106. 

Pottery,  of  American  Indians,  235; 
neolithic,  94,  234. 

Prehistoric,  ages,  39-101;  caves,  71- 
91;  implements,  71-101;  man, 
39-101;  monuments,  94-101; 
period,  71-101,  239;  remains  of 
man,  58-101. 

Primary  period,  52. 

Primary  stimuli,  108. 

Property,  183,  271,  274,  284. 

Protective  coloring,  26-27. 

Pueblo  Indians,  280. 

Quaternary  period,  52,  57. 

Race,  Alpine,  218,  220,  223,  226; 
Asian-American  racial  group,  210, 
214;  Australian,  African  racial 
group,  210,  214;  Baltic,  217,  223; 
Black,  208,  209;  Danubean,  220, 
226;  Eur-African,  217-218,  226; 
Eur-Asian,  217,  218-219;  Polyne- 
sian-European racial  group,  210- 
214;  Teutonic,  217-218,  223; 
White,  208,  209,  220-229;  Yel- 
low, 208,  209. 

Ratzel,  F.,  cited,  117,  151,  275. 

Recapitulation  theory  of  embryo- 
logical  development,  43-46,  66-67. 

Recessive  Mendelian  character,  11- 
15. 

Regression,   Galton's   theory  of,    17. 

Religion,  of  ancestor-worship,  269, 
284;  and  animism,  264-269;  con- 
tinuous theory  of  spiritual  exist- 
ence, 269;  and  physical  environ- 
ment, 169;  retributive  theory  of 


spiritual  existence,  269;  and  be- 
lief in  human  soul,  265-266,  269; 
and  theory  of  transmigration  of 
souls,  269. 

Remains  of  prehistoric  man,  58— 
101,  218. 

Reproduction,  in  fishes,  22;  in  ele- 
phants, 21 ;  and  natural  selection, 
20-24;  and  robins,  21-22. 

Response  to  stimulus,  108,  166. 

Ripley,  W.  Z.,  cited,  152,  154,  203, 
218. 

Robins,  reproduction  in,  21-22. 

Romanes,  G.  J.,  cited,  21,  22,  43. 

Roman  clan,  238. 

Ross,  E.  A.,  quoted,  185,  194. 

Rough  stone  age,  76,  87,  101. 

Sardinia,  island  of,  153. 
Saxons,  154. 

Science,  149-150,  268,  295. 
Secondary  period,  52. 
Secondary  stimuli,  109. 
Seebohm,  F.,  cited,  291. 
Seebohm,   H.   E.,  cited,  291. 
Seligman,  E.  R.  A.,  cited,  272,  276, 

283,  293;  quoted,  281. 
Semple,  E.  C.,  cited,   122,  139,  149, 

158;     quoted,     121-122,     139-140, 

157. 

Sieroshevski,  V.  L.,  cited,   117. 
Sexual    selection,    31-32,    49;    Dar- 
win's theory  of,  31-32;  and  man, 

49. 
Skin  color,   206,  208-209,   221-222; 

and  climate,  221. 
Slavery,  276,  293-294. 
Social  animals,   102-104. 
Social    institutions,    171-202,    233- 

296. 

Social   medium,    171-174. 
Social   organization,    145,    173,   234, 

239-277. 

Social  pressure,   117,  166. 
Social  selection,  116,  117,  166,  179. 
Solutre"an   epoch,   82. 


INDEX 


305 


Soma,   33. 

Soul,  origin  of  idea  of,  265-267. 

Species,  29-30,  40,  46-49;  human 
and  other,  40;  origin  of,  29-30. 

Speech,  origin  of  articulate,  111- 
114. 

Spencer,  B.,  &  Gillen,  F.  J.,  cited, 
255,  256,  258;  quoted,  255. 

Spirits,  ancestor-worship,  195,  269, 
284-285;  belief  in,  251,  264;  con- 
tinuous theory  of  spiritual  exist- 
ence, 269;  retributive  theory  of 
spiritual  existence,  269. 

Sports,   biological,   9-10. 

Spy  cranium,  58. 

Stable  variation,  6,  9-10. 

Statistics,,  and  study  of  biological 
phenomena,  4,  8-9. 

Stimuli,  108-109;  primary,  108; 
secondary,  109. 

Stimulation  and  response,   108-109. 

Stone  implements,  76-101,  241. 

Stone  ages,  76-101,  227. 

Strehlow,  C.,  cited,  256. 

Stre"pyan    epoch,    76. 

Struggle  for  existence,  20-38 ;  among 
plants  and  animals,  20;  among 
men,  22-24,  46-49,  87-91;  and 
natural  selection,  20-38;  and 
survival  of  the  fit,  21,  24,  87-91, 
114-116. 

Suetonius,  cited,  185. 

Suggestion,  185-186,  187,  188-190; 
conditions  of  suggestibility,  187- 
196;  defined,  187-188. 

Summary  of  theory  of  natural  se- 
lection, 30-31. 

Sumner,  W.  G.,  cited,  181,  182; 
quoted,  177,  183. 

Sun's  rays  and  skin  color,  221-222. 

Superstition,  116,  117,  118,  165, 
166-169. 

Surplus,  economic,  150,  276,  293- 
294. 

Survival  of  the  fit,  21,  24,  87-91, 
114-116. 


Swanton,  J.  R.,  cited,  246. 

Taboo,  245,  250,  255,  275. 

Tacitus,  cited,  289. 

Tarde,  G.,  cited,  190,  191,  192,  193, 

194,    195,    292;    quoted,    192-193, 

194,  195. 

Tertiary  period,  52,  57. 
Teutonic  race,  217-218,  223. 
Thomson,  J.  A.,  &  Geddes,  P.,  cited, 

5,  6,  9,  13,  15,  17,  25,  32. 
Thorndike,  E.  L.,  cited,  7. 
Topography,  146-149,  152,  165,  166; 

and  isolation,  152;  and  migration, 

146-149. 

Torrid  region,  133. 
Totem,  245-258;  in  Australia,  254- 

257;    in    British    Columbia,    246- 

254;   defined,  245. 
Transylvania,  154. 
Tradition,  57,  83-86,  117,   137,   154, 

171-202,  247-248,  254,  255,  279. 
Transmigration  of  souls,  theory  of, 

269. 

Tribal   society,   233-277. 
Tribe,  241. 
Tylor,   E.   B.,   cited,   264,   267,   268, 

280. 
Type,  6,  7,  8,  27,  28,  117,  203-204, 

213,  221. 

Unlike  response,  110. 
Usages,  116,  117,  145,  165-169,  171- 
202,  291,  292. 

Variation,  1-19,  36-37,  106-107, 
117,  118,  182;  congenital,  36-37; 
continuous,  4-7;  discontinuous,  6, 
10;  fluctuating,  3-8;  germinal,  6, 
36-37;  and  selection,  23,  31,  106- 
107,  117,  118;  stable,  .6,  9-10. 

Von  Treitschke,  H.,  cited,  160. 

Vestigial  structures,  40-43. 

Waitz,  T.,  cited,  229. 
Wallace,  cited,  103. 


306  INDEX 

Weather  influences,  144-145.  Woodruff,  C.  E.,  cited,  221. 
Weismann,  A.,  cited,  5,  16;  quoted, 

5.  Yellow  race,  208,  209. 
White  race,  208,  209,  220-225,  226, 

227,   229.  Zone  of  origin  of  human  race,  57, 
Woman,  243,  275.  210-213,  214. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A    000  981  805     5 


CENTRAL  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
University  of  California,  San  Diego 

DATE  DUE 


i  i-w  uj  ly/b 

JAN  26  1975 

C139 

UCSD  Libr. 

